Ian McLagan at Plutopia
It may seem strange that we have selected Ian “Mac” McLagan to be one of the headliners for an event under the mantle of “living Systems”, particularly when he is surrounded by accomplished proponents from fields as seemingly futuristic as transhumanism, bio- and nanotechnology, future networks, alternative energy and the like.
Yet, in Mac, we have a one-man “living system” who has remained at the center of rock music and ultimately become the hub of a very active social network within the world of rock and roll, connected at various times to bands and artists including The Small Faces and later The Faces, Rod Stewart, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, Taj Mahal, John Hiatt, David Lindley, Paul Westerberg, Billy Bragg and Patty Griffin, to name just a few.
Mac has developed a highly successful career spanning four decades. Over that time, he (like all of us, as products and parts of “living systems”) has been influenced and affected by the people, interactions, sounds and media that he has encountered.
Mac took up the keyboard because he heard sounds on the radio, players like Otis Span, Johnny Johnson, Booker T and Billy Preston who inspired him to become the wonderful musician that he is. And he, in turn, has influenced countless other musicians to take up the craft. They in turn will pass that on to others.
As Keith Richards says: “If you turn out to be a musician, everything that you have ever heard comes out in what you play.”
Mac’s role as a highly influential and critical node in this living ‘social network” is a perfect example of a social structure that facilitates communication between a group of individuals or organizations, which are related by one or more specific types of interdependency: a special or common interest; shared values; visions, ideas, or perhaps ideals; friendship, and sometimes even dislike or conflict. Above all, it has been the fluidity in the ties that have made Mac’s relationships as powerful and influential and ones that will outlive both Mac and those of us that have had the opportunity to follow and share in his evolution.
If it were not for Mac, there would have been no Faces, Itchycoo Park, Stay With Me, Miss You, Black Crowes, The Jam, The Sex Pistols, etc., or any of the future names that we have yet to discover that will carry his bits of his creative DNA.
We are proud to have Ian McLagan perform with his Bump Band at Plutopia 2009. His performance will be prefaced by a short introduction from Bruce Duval, who has studied Mac’s contribution both to the world of music and as a “living system” and network hub.
