Wes McGhee died on 30th January, 2026. He had been ill for a while, and we all know how everything ends. But his life deserves to be remembered and celebrated here.
Wes was a brilliant British musician and songwriter who really understood country music - specifically, Texas country music. He worked and played with a whole host of musicians from that state and, I think, was much better known there than he is here. But we should be very proud and thankful for the music, and the legacy, with which he leaves us.
An obituary for Wes appeared in The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/feb/22/wes-mcghee-obituary
RIP Wes - and Thanks For The Chicken!
I remember the buzz around his early career, particularly "Long Nights and Banjo Music" which fit right in with Joe Ely, Butch Hancock and Terry Allen being the new kids on the block. I hadn't realised he'd died over three months ago.
@martinjohnson Thanks. Wes was great - and he really understood real country music.
It's a great pity that, following his death, his website - wesmcghee.com - now appears to have disappeared: as well as many interesting musings about life and music in general, it contained a lot of good biographical information about himself. I guess (?) that some of it will still be available via the Internet Archive's 'Wayback Machine' - but it would have been good had the site itself stayed up.
Ah well - we still have the music. And music is indeed the 'super art.'
RIP Wes.