Doug MacLeod Blues Workshop
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Doug MacLeod Blues Workshop in Borrego Springs
A rare, small-group session with multiple Blues Music Awards winner Doug MacLeod—scheduled before his live performance at the Borrego Springs Performing Arts Center. Learn acoustic blues technique, song craft, timing and dynamics, plus first-hand stories from the road. Below are the exact details on location, date, price, materials, capacity, and registration so you can decide quickly and secure a seat.
Life, Love and the Blues!
- Format: Hands-on coaching, Q&A, storytelling
- Focus: Song craft, right-hand patterns, tone, timing, feel
When & Where
- Date & Time: October 17, 2025 — 1:00–3:00 PM
- Workshop Location: Studio West, 587 Palm Canyon Dr., Suite 208, Borrego Springs, CA 92004
Price
- BAI Members: $75
- Non-Members: $100
Materials
Bring a notebook, a writing device, and a desire to learn.
Capacity
20 student maximum. Intimate format for individualized feedback.
Description
Kick off Borrego Days with the blues. Learn from award-winning artist Doug MacLeod. Explore song craft and guitar techniques, and hear first-hand stories of old bluesmen and blueswomen. Includes audience Q&A.
Registration
Register through borregoartinstitute.org. For questions about fees or accessibility, contact Borrego Art Institute.
About Doug MacLeod
Doug MacLeod is known for superb songwriting, guitar wizardry, warm soulful vocals, wit, and memorable live performances. Storytelling sits at the center of his shows, bringing characters—from the faceless to the legendary—to strikingly real life.
He is a multiple Blues Music Award winner, including 2024 Acoustic Album of the Year (Raw Blues 1) and 2023 Acoustic Artist of the Year. In 2025 he received two Blues Music Award nominations: Acoustic Artist of the Year and Acoustic Album of the Year (Raw Blues 2). His 2022 release A Soul to Claim (produced by Jim Gaines) was named a DownBeat Magazine “Album of the Year.”
An international touring artist, MacLeod writes and sings original songs drawn from his own life and experiences. As a youth he overcame abuse and a debilitating stutter by turning to music and voice.
His playing led to sideman work with George “Harmonica” Smith, Big Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Lowell Fulson, and Big Mama Thornton. Over four decades he has recorded 29 studio albums, several live records and compilations, two blues-guitar instructional DVDs, and a live performance DVD. His songs have been covered by Albert King, Albert Collins, Joe Louis Walker, and Eva Cassidy, and have appeared in TV movies and the series In the Heat of the Night. Playwright August Wilson requested MacLeod’s slide guitar for the Los Angeles opening of Gem of the Ocean.
From 1999–2004 MacLeod hosted Nothin’ But The Blues on Los Angeles’ KLON-KKJZ and later voiced The Blues Showcase on Continental Airlines. For ten years he wrote “Doug’s Back Porch” for Blues Revue Magazine, sharing humorous and insightful stories with thousands of readers. He is also featured in the documentary Resonate: A Guitar Story about National Guitars.
Like the masters who taught him, MacLeod’s music expresses life and times with a clear sense of what matters most. He often cites mentor Ernest Banks of Toano, VA: “Never play a note you don’t believe,” and “Never write or sing about what you don’t know about.”
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