Johnny Burgin, Billy Flynn with Noah Wotherspoon & Yoshimi Hirata

Chicago Blues Guitar Workshop June 2-6

Instructors Johnny Burgin and Billy Flynn, along with special guests, will offer a limited registration workshop for guitarists and bassists. Refine your blues playing, play rhythm and lead more confidently, and become more comfortable with with performing onstage. We’ll emphasize the ability to improvise and adapt to playing with other musicians in a jam or in a band. There will be a student performance as well. More info: 630-432-4940.

2025 CHICAGO BLUES GUITAR WORKSHOP

Johnny Burgin, billy flynn, noah wotherspoon, yoshimi hirata

The Chicago Blues Guitar Workshop was born out of the Chicago Blues Camp, which ran
from 2016 to 2022.

The ‘25 edition will run from Sunday night through Friday morning, June 1-6. Johnny Burgin,
Billy Flynn, bass instructor Yoshimi Hirata, and veteran drummer and band coach Marty
Binder will all return, and we’ve added a great new instructor, Noah Wotherspoon. All
instuctors are seasoned pros who are currently releasing music and touring, and who are
steeped in the subtleties of Chicago blues. Better yet from a students point of view, they
truly enjoy teaching and will create a supportive environment for participants to hone their
skills.

True to our history, this is a limited registration workshop which will refine your blues
playing, teach you to play rhythm and lead more confidently, and to become more
confortable performing with others and onstage. Yes there’s plenty of time in intimate,
supportive classes with lots of individual attention. But we’ll also test our knowledge
outside of class by forming bands, playing in a student showcase, and for the first time,
recording in Rec Room studios in Des Plaines, IL.

There are lots of guitar camps. But this is the only one focused on Chicago blues, with on’t
miss this unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the glorious guitar styles of Muddy
Waters, Otis Rush, and other great artists of the Chicago Blues heritage.

photo: Bob Kieser

photo: Pete Federico

CLASS SIZE: limited to 30.

COST: $2200.

$350 non-refundable deposit by

Venmo: @Johnny-Burgin-1

or ZELLE at rjohnnyband@gmail.com

or 630-432-4940

or check payable to

Johnny Burgin due by April 1

LOCATION SpringHill Suites, 8101
West Higgins Road / Chicago, IL
60631 (Sunday night)

Rec Room Studios. 110 S. Des Plaines
River Rd. Des Plaines, IL (Mon-Fri)

SUNDAY, JUNE 1, evening class/meet
and greet.

MONDAY-THURSDAY, JUNE 2-5:

morning and afternoon class.

FRI JUNE 6: morning class

Morning classes: 9.30-12.30

Afternoon classes: 1.30-4.30

INSTRUCTOR SET/

STUDENT SHOWCASE

6.30-10 THURS JUNE 5

location TBA

Johnny Burgin

Lead instructor Johnny grew up in Starkville, Mississippi, and went to the University of Chicago. That began his other schooling, at “blues university” in Chicago for over 25 years! Since the early 90s Johnny has toured and recorded with blues legends such as Pinetop Perkins, Sam Lay, Tail Dragger, and Billy Boy Arnold as well as eleven of his own CDs. Johnny was nominated for a Blues Music Award for Best Traditional Blues Artist in ’23, for two Blues Blast Awards in ‘24, and for Best Traditional Blues CD of 2017 for Howlin’ at Greaseland, a Howlin’ Wolf tribute. Johnny’s latest release, “Ramblin From Coast to Coast” was the 6th most played blues relase on the Big Blues Chart for 2024. Despite Johnny’s grueling tour worldwide touring schedule, he’s managed to build a loyal following on YouTube by releasing a weekly deep dive guitar lesson every Monday.

Billy Flynn

Billy Flynn won a Grammy in 2010 for his contribution to the hit movie “Cadillac Records” soundtrack, but this was no overnight success. For the last thirty years, Billy’s been a highly sought-after sideman, known for his tasty playing, versatility, and authentic playing. As a teenager in Green Bay WI, he managed to join Jimmy Dawin’s band, and from there he went on to perform with Otis Rush, Sunnyland Slim, Willie Smith, and some of the deepest originators of classic Chicago Blues. Billy has recorded with Kim Wilson, The Cash Box Kings, Mark Hummel, Willie Smith and The Legendary Blues Band, Billy Boy Arnold, Mississippi Heat, and many more. Blues Blast magazine stated: Billy is one of the best at his craft…truly a renaissance blues man.

photo by Jeff Griffin

Noah Wotherspoon

Noah Wotherspoon is a guitarist/singer/songwriter from Dayton, OH. He performed at The Chicago Blues Festival at the tender age of 16; soon after, he recorded his debut CD, featuring the legendary Hubert Sumlin. In 2015, Noah received the Albert King Award for Best Guitarist at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN. Noah has performed and conducted guitar workshops around the world, including Eastern Europe, Mexico and Iceland. In 2023, Wotherspoon launched “The Mobile Woodshed,” an online guitar workshop series.

Noah’s based near Cincinnati where he maintains a busy performance schedule. Beyond music, Noah has numerous artistic endeavors in the works such as “Visions of Eli” and “Ishkabibble,” which integrate fictional stories, original music and visual art.

Yoshimi Hirata

Yoshimi grew up in rural Japan where she fell in love with 60’s and 70’s era American and British rock music. She began playing bass guitar in her 20s after moving to Tokyo and shortly thereafter, she joined a blues jam session to gain some stage experience. That experience soon developed into an obsession with Chicago blues. That obsession led her to visit Chicago in 2013, where she played with local blues musicians. In 2022, Yoshimi made the decision to permanently relocate to Chicago to pursue her musical ambitions. She has played with Tail Dragger, Willie Buck, and Johnny Burgin and currently plays with Mississippi Heat, Woodlawn Four, Joey Saye, and others. Her playing style is heavily influenced by Dave Meyers, Ernest Johnson, Willie Dixon and other masters of Post War Chicago Blues.

Social

Phone/Text

(630) 432-4940

Email

rjohnnyband@gmail.com

Questions?

Get in touch!

Johnny’s YouTube

Guitar Lessons Playlist:

View All Concerts

Chicago Blues Guitar Workshop

Chicago, IL

Jun 2, 2025

10:00 AM CDT

Johnny is a tireless road warrior, performing almost 200 nights a year in the US, Mexico, Europe & Japan with his stinging guitar grooves.

Johnny Burgin Featured Video

Live Photos

Johnny Burgin

Johnny’s motto is “Chicago Blues from Coast to Coast”, and he lives up to it by performing up to 250 shows a year in Europe, Japan and all over the US. Johnny started his career in the neighborhood blues joints on Chicago’s West Side with Howlin’ Wolf disciple Tail Dragger, and went on to tour and record with blues legends such as Pinetop Perkins, Sam Lay and Billy Boy Arnold. He’s been praised by the Cascade Blues Association for his “stunning guitar playing– the pure Chicago styled sound”, and his fans love Johnny’s take on the intense, stripped-down “West Side sound” of Otis Rush, Magic Sam and Buddy Guy. Johnny is a Delmark and Vizztone recording artist with 9 CDs to his credit. He was nominated for a BMA for Best Traditional Blues CD of 2017 for “Howlin’ at Greaseland”, a Howlin’ Wolf tribute.

Johnny Burgin grew up in Starkville MS and Greenville SC, and while he was still in high school, he got to see many touring blues bands such as Guitar Jr, Gatemouth Brown and Eddie Clearwater. His father was an actor and folk musician and taught him the basics on guitar. He went to University of Chicago with the intention of becoming a writer, but a different path unfolded and he fell headfirst into the Chicago blues scene. Things started happening fast after Johnny (at that time featuring guest vocalist Jimmy Burns) took a Monday night residency at the Smoke Daddy in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. They soon became a strong draw, and the atmosphere they generated was so electric that Bob Koester of Delmark Records offered them a contract after hearing just one set.

Since those days, Johnny played the Chicago blues festival many times, toured Europe regularly, and has headlined festivals all over the US. Over the years, he has developed from a blues guitar slinger and local blues hero into a fully fledged singer, harmonica player, a dynamic and engaging bandleader, and a mature, seasoned guitarist. One look at Johnny’s tour schedule confirms his status as an in-demand blues performer. He puts on the kind of satisfying and exciting show that only years of touring can develop. Elmore magazine remarked on Johnny’s “commanding vocals and stinging guitar”, but Elvin Bishop may have said it best: “his guitar style is raw and rude and real—on the vocal side, a nice original style–he’s damn good!”
For more info, please see www.johnnyburgin.com.

https://johnnyburgin.com/shows/upcoming-shows/

“I’m knocked out! I already liked what you were doing, but you’ve really moved WAY up. What did you do, go to the crossroads or something?” –Charlie Musselwhite

“I first saw Rockin’ Johnny years back at the Utrecht Blues Estafette, and was very impressed.  The years have added maturity, his vocals are soulful and his guitar playing is always top notch. Impressed, you bet I was!” –Phil Wight, Blues and Rhythm magazine, UK

“The great thing about Rockin’ Johnny is that his sound is fully rooted in the old style Chicago Blues sound, but his approach is original and contemporary.” –Karen Hansen, Today’s Chicago Blues blog

“Burgin proves to be a strong writer here… commanding vocals and stinging guitar” –Jim Hynes, Making a Scene

https://delmark.com/?s=Johnny+Burgin

Johnny Burgin – Live

Johnny Burgin – Live
Delmark DE 858 (2019)

My thing has always been live music. Going to shows, booking shows, playing shows. Playing with the best musicians I could. More than anything, I loved the feeling of getting in the van and going. Even better, once I got there, I love the feeling of knockin’ em dead.

It’s been nearly 20 years since my last live CD. That one, More Real Folk Blues Live, was Chicago in every way, back when living in Chicago was like Christmas for me every day. It was the result of seeing and playing with great blues artists all the time– artists like Eddie C. Campbell, Tail Dragger, Sam Lay, Eddie Taylor Jr., Jimmy Dawkins, Eddie Shaw, Little Arthur Duncan, Jimmy Burns, Big Smokey Smothers, L.V. Banks, Eddy Clearwater– and many others. It was a recording borne of a long, self-imposed apprenticeship– the kind musicians like me came to Chicago from all over the world to get. Although that apprenticeship ended some time ago, I have begun another journey that’s taken me from coast to coast in the US and all around the world, across Europe, to Russia, Japan and beyond.

Live recordings often just repeat well-worn songs played by well-oiled machines. This live session is the exact opposite. It offers twelve brand-new originals done by artists who don’t play together regularly, performed for a packed house of enthusiastic fans of course! We had just one night to nail it– which made this recording a crazy, but thrilling, high wire act! The many miles and musical clairvoyance I’ve enjoyed with my road band of bassist Chris Matheos and drummer Steve Dougherty gave me the confidence for this do-or-die session. I drew from the great Bay Area blues talent pool that lured me to the West Coast back in 2016. I count all my special guests as friends and knew their contributions would carry me through. Blues legend Charlie Musselwhite’s driving boogie-woogie harp on “California Blues” is an absolute highlight. The end result is a raw, fresh, and original all-star set of blues, shot through with live energy.

Chicago Blues sax legend Eddie Shaw once said, “It takes 20 years to make a bluesman.” Here I am, ready to play my blues for you.

–Johnny Burgin

https://open.spotify.com/show/2UvCVCwMnPsihlNVFR9mbH

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEBHvKSv_hMbkfXjyWPlTgQ

Johnny Burgin

@JohnnyBurginBlues3.13K subscribers178 videos

This channel features my guitar lessons and music Over the years I’ve gigged, toured and recorded with lots of great blues legends (Pinetop Perkins, Sam Lay, Tail Dragger, Paul DeLay, Billy Boy Arnold etc), and I find it rewarding to try to pass on this hard-earned bandstand knowledge. If you’re a Chicago Blues freak, you’re in the right place! Subscribe and hit me back with any comments or questions– it’s great to hear from you. * Contact me by email at rjohnnyband@gmail.com and/or visit www.johnnyburgin.com tour dates, CD’s, booking or skype/zoom lessons. *If you feel inspired, any Palpal or Venmo donations within your budget will be greatly appreciated. * PayPal: rjohnnyband@gmail.com * Venmo: @Johnny-Burgin-1 Connect * Instagram: @johnnyburgin * Facebook: Johnny Burgin Live *Twitter @burginjohnny And check out the No Border Blues podcast playlist too about international blues artists you should know! Thank you very much for all your support– see you on the road!