Roots

Mac Nelson and Brian “Juice” Raynor met while studying classical guitar at East Carolina University in 2000. Since then, they have been writing, singing and playing music together, developing a sound that celebrates rock and jazz with doses of jam and bluegrass elements spun in. The outcome of this passionate ride is a signature sound that beams brightly with intricate guitar licks that expose their unparalleled dexterity. While crafting songs is serious business for Mac & Juice, what follows are bright, tight, beautifully rocking stories that come to life through moonlit vocals, thoughtful lyrics, and their two guitars which seem to channel the stories as well.

Mac & Juice's self-released album, Step into the Light, is not just a collection of songs but rather a personal stamp on their original music that has developed organically over the years. Because of the many genres of music coming to life on this album, it is challenging to put them into any one category. Among the eleven songs, “Willie Nelson Song” and “One Hundred Dollars” plug songwriting influences such as Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard, while “Johnny Gene” and “I’m Going Home” give a nod to authentic bluegrass. “Phoenix” and “She Don’t Wanna Be” are straight driving rock songs with moving hooks. “Today,” “Remembered as the Best” and “Countryside” will make you want to drive with the top down. “The Most Beautiful Thing” unveils jazz notes that are reminiscent of Stevie Wonder, but with their signature virtuoso brand. “Piece of Mind” ebbs and flows over a groove laden low end that spills into a lick-heavy guitar solo where Mac & Juice unleash their tandem jams.

Mac & Juice pick up their beloved Alvarez guitars and play over one hundred shows a year across the southeast. They have likewise been welcomed with open arms into the southern festival scene. Mac & Juice share a brain. Their camaraderie on and off stage is part of why they are such a distinctive act. To experience a Mac & Juice performance or listen to Step into the Light is to have fallen upon something special and not to be missed.