JOHNNY BURGIN
(7CD)
BIOGRAPHY
Their CDs and live performances have drawn great reviews in Living Blues, The Chicago Sun Times, Pioneer Press, and National Public Radio's "848".
Guitarist Johnny Burgin came to Chicago from South Carolina to attend
the University of Chicago, and earned the name "Rockin' Johnny" as a DJ
at the college radio station WHPK. Rockin' Johnny began playing in the
ghetto clubs of Chicago's West Side with blues singer Taildragger, and
then began touring nationally as a sideman with former Howlin' Wolf
drummer Sam Lay and blues piano legend Pinetop Perkins.
After learning from the masters, he put his own band together. Things
started happening for the Rockin' Johnny Band after they took a Monday
night residency at The Smoke Daddy in Chicago's Wicker Park
neighborhood.
Their original, energetic approach soon made them a strong local draw
week after week and year after year, bringing in blues aficionados,
every musician in town, and a younger crowd that normally didn't go to
hear blues bands. The atmosphere the band generated was so electric,
that Delmark Records offered them a contract after hearing just one set.
This was especially exciting because the prestigious Chicago label is
revered by blues aficionados as the home of Junior Wells and Johnny's
idol, Magic Sam!
Since those days, they've regularly toured Europe, played festivals and
headlined clubs all over the Midwest. The Rockin' Johnny Band has
recorded five CDs including "Grim Reaper", released in April of 2012. A
true "musician's musician",Rockin' Johnny has been one of Chicago's most
in-demand blues session men since the 90s, contributing his incisive
playing to over a dozen CDs by artists such as Billy Boy Arnold, Jimmy
Burns, Tail Dragger, Little Arthur Duncan, Paul DeLay and many
more.
The Rockin' Johnny Band plays vintage Chicago blues, but also is known
for a wide repertoire which ventures into Stax style soul, swing, and lots
of originals that are harder to classify. On stage, the band performs with
spontaneity and fun, always showcasing fantastic guitar playing. Living
Blues states: "top notch ensemble work, with power, drive, and a keen
sense of dynamics".
The band consists of true veterans: Rick Kreher (rhythm guitar) played
rhythm guitar with Muddy Waters for four years; John Sefner (bass) was
formerly with Studebaker John and Eddie Kirkland; and Steve Bass (drums)
also plays with Chicago blues legend Eddy Clearwater.
Here's what some of Chicago's most in the know critics and music
business figures have to say about Rockin' Johnny and The Rockin
Johnny Band: Bruce Iglauer, Alligator Records:
"Rockin Johnny delivers the raw, rough-edged spirit of real Chicago blues".
Dick Shurman, writer for Living Blues, blues producer: "Rockin' Johnny
has brought a refreshing jolt of talent, feeling and affirmation of the
Windy City's guitar tradition. Johnny has always been known as a crowd
pleaser with rawness, drive, a tight band and a scholarly and musical
mastery of the local blues repertoire and vocabulary.
He's extra interesting and distinctive because, instead of the overdone warhorses sometimes called "the set list from hell," Johnny mines more obscure building blocks like Little Smokey Smothers, Hip Linkchain or Willie James Lyons, adding to his appeal to hard core purists as well as more casual lovers of powerful Chicago blues. It adds up to a winning combination of depth, a bite like the winter wind, tradition and an up-to-the minute wallop, and offers a guaranteed winner for all who see or book the band."
He's extra interesting and distinctive because, instead of the overdone warhorses sometimes called "the set list from hell," Johnny mines more obscure building blocks like Little Smokey Smothers, Hip Linkchain or Willie James Lyons, adding to his appeal to hard core purists as well as more casual lovers of powerful Chicago blues. It adds up to a winning combination of depth, a bite like the winter wind, tradition and an up-to-the minute wallop, and offers a guaranteed winner for all who see or book the band."
NEW!
JOHNNY BURGIN
2017-Neoprene Fedora @FLAC
2019-Johnny Burgin Live @FLAC
2020-No Border Blues @FLAC
2024-Ramblin' From Coast to Coast @FLAC