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QuickTake:
Mac's Restaurant in Eugene is among the honorees Sunday in an induction ceremony for the Oregon Blues Hall of Fame. For nearly a quarter-century, Mac's and owner Pat McCallum have put a premium on live music.
It makes sense, in a blues sort of way: The location of Sunday’s induction ceremony for the Oregon chapter of the Blues Hall of Fame is also among the inductees.
Mac’s Restaurant in Eugene — along with owner Pat McCallum — are being honored by the hall of fame for supporting live music and blues artists for nearly a quarter-century.
It’s a fitting honor for Mac’s and McCallum, said Bill J Harper, the local musician who’s helping organize Sunday’s ceremony.
“Mac’s has been the premier blues venue in Eugene for the past 23 years,” Ray said. And so it was a logical choice to host the event.
McCallum said he’s been “a music junkie my entire life. But I’ve always had a real strong passion for live music. … We started in (2002) here in the building and introduced live music right away when we opened and have kept it going now for 23 years.”
That includes some rough stretches, including a worldwide pandemic. What’s kept live music alive at Mac’s?
McCallum had a one-word answer:
“Catering. That was a real simple easy answer. The catering division of our business has enabled us to persevere through some pretty challenging times.”
And that includes 2025.
“It is a tough go right now,” he said. “People are extremely apprehensive and when people are fearful — and particularly fearful of their financial situation — the first thing that people stop doing is going out and we’re feeling that pretty big-time right now.”
He emphasized the importance of local support to small businesses like his.
“We’ve been really proud to be able to provide a venue for people to come and perform and play and sing and do their thing here,” McCallum said. But he added: “We need the community support right now.”
Inductees
In addition to Mac’s Restaurant and McCallum, honorees Sunday include Harper (who performs under the name Billy Jay), Brian James, Hank Shreve, Bryon Case, Ben Rice, Tim Donahue, Vicki Stevens Cofield, Jerry “Natty-O” Leff, Billy Eilas, Blue Owens, Walter Herleman, Jerry Zybach, Skip Jones, Danielle Ward and Ray Whirlwind.
Michael “Axel” Fleming (who will serve as Sunday’s emcell), Vicki Herleman and Vicki Allard will be honored as blues ambassadors.
Posthumous honors will go to Gavin “Rooster” Fox, Tom Noe and Sean Jackson.
If you go
The induction ceremony for the Oregon Chapter of the Blues Hall of Fame is set for 3 p.m. Sunday at Mac’s Restaurant, 1626 Willamette St. in Eugene. The ceremony will last a couple of hours and will be followed by what McCallum called a blues jam session — similar to the ones held weekly at Mac’s. Tickets are available online at bhof.ticketbud.com for $15, with a $2 service charge, or can be bought at Mac’s for $15, cash only.
