Mac Arnold & Plate Full O' Blues

The Band

Max Hightower – keyboard, harmonica, guitar, bass & vocals

​Max was born and raised in the Upstate of South Carolina.  At age 12, he bought his first Blues cassette tape Muddy Mississippi Live by Muddy Waters.  The new and mysterious sound of the music had such an immediate impact on him that in no time he was banging around on his Grandmother’s Silvertone guitar.  However, it was the Harmonica that became his instrument of choice.  He found that there was something almost spiritual about having an instrument that close to his voice, giving every breath meaning.  That little 10 hole harp led him down the path of composing his own songs, playing the piano, bass, guitar, singing, teaching and producing.  As one of the founding members of Plate Full O’ Blues, he now tours the USA, Canada and Europe.  He has even shared the stage with some of the very legends that fueled his passion for the music, like Hubert Sumlin, Willie Smith, Bob Margolin, Eddie Shaw and Leon Everette to name a few.

Quinn McNamara – drums

Now with Mac Arnold and Plate Full O’ Blues and getting to work alongside artists such as Bob Margolin, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Eddie Shaw, and Hubert Sumlin to name a few, he looks forward to the next musical adventure.

Austin Brashier – guitar & vocals

​Austin Brashier, guitar slinger and vocalist, has been exposed to music his whole life being from a very musical family. But it was the exposure of guitar monsters like Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix and Albert King that sent him spiraling through the tunnel of Blues.  Not wasting any time, he took his band on the road after high school, released a CD, and had the privilege of opening for or playing with many Blues greats such as B.B. King, Koko Taylor, Tinsley Ellis, Derek Trucks, and Nappy Brown. When he was not on the road, Austin was backing up many Blues artists traveling through town such as Eddie Kirkland, Phil Guy and the list goes on.