JOHNNY BURGIN @ The Washington, Burlington, IA

09/18/21
Burlington, IA
The Washington

AGE RESTRICTIONS: All Ages. ADDRESS: 306 Washington St. VENUE PHONE: 319.758.9553.

Johnny Burgin – Live

DE 858 album artwork

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

BIOGRAPHY

Johnny Burgin grew up in the South and went to University of Chicago with the intention of becoming a writer.  A different path unfolded when a fellow DJ at the college radio station took him out to a West Side ghetto club to hear the blues singer Tail Dragger.   It was a conversion moment where the blues came to life for Johnny and he fell headfirst into the vibrant Chicago blues scene.  Choosing the blues clubs over the library, Johnny eagerly absorbed the lessons from the blues masters who practiced their craft nightly.  Through persistence and practice he gained a spot in Tail Dragger’s band, and started doing gigs in town and on the road with traditional blues veterans like Jimmie Lee Robinson, Sam Lay, and Pinetop Perkins.  What at first he’d only dared to dream about coalesced into three concrete goals: to play in Europe, record his own CD, and to book his own gigs every weekend.  A Monday night residency at The Smoke Daddy in Wicker Park along with featured vocalist Jimmy Burns turned out to the key: before long, Johnny’s band  packed the club every Monday with a younger, hip crowd.   The residency’s success led directly to a record deal with Delmark, steady local club work, and his first of many European tours– he’d done it!

The shangri-la of being “King of Division Street” eventually ran its course, and in the early aughts, Johnny dropped off the scene entirely to raise a daughter.  But Johnny couldn’t keep away from music for too long;  his 2009 comeback was noted by The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Blues Guide, as well as the international blues press.  His first show, on a frigid January night in a club that’d been an old stoming ground, was packed with his old fans.  An awful silence fell before he hit the first note– did he still have it?– but as noted blues producer Dick Shurman wrote, “Johnny’s skills, passion and committment were undiminished.”  Brick by brick, Johnny rebuilt his career first in Chicago, then all over the Midwest and Europe, and gradually out to the West Coast.  His move to the Bay Area in 2016 was artistically rejuvenating, leading to new fans, new collaborations, and  recordings such as the Cali/Chicago blues mashup Neoprene Fedora, the Howlin’ Wolf tribute Howlin’ at Greaseland (nominated for a BMA for Best Traditional Blues Recording) and the Johnny Burgin Live LP, which featured Charlie Musselwhite and was nominated for a Blues Blast Best Live Recording Award for 2019.  The move honed his road warrior skills: since 2016, he’s performed nearly 250 shows a year in Europe, Japan and coast to coast in the US, earning the tag line The Worldwide West Side Guitar Man.

Now with ten CDs as a leader to his credit and dozens more as a sideman,  Johnny’s developed from a young guitar slinger and local blues hero into a matured bluesman, fully fledged singer and the a confident and engaging bandleader.  In recent years, he has been teaching both in person and online at the Chicago Blues Network and has developed a loyal following on Youtube for his weekly looks at the blues guitar greats.   Johnny’s recordings have evolved from being very Chicago-centric, to a fusion of West Coast and Chicago styles, and finally to a more inclusive, international approach: his latest CD, No Border Blues Japan, is the first American compilation of the underground Japanese blues scene.  The success of this collaboration led Johnny and his partner, producer Stephanie Tice, to create and host the podcast No Border Blues, which focuses on the international blues scene.


“His guitar style is raw and rude and real– on the vocal side, a nice original style– he’s damn good!”                        –Elvin Bishop

An adventurous musician who’s never shy about taking chances.  
–Marty Gunther, Blues Blast 

This veteran blues musician has been on a roll of late turning out one exceptional album after another.
–David Mac, Blues Junction

The well-traveled and prolific Chicago bluesman.. brings something different each time he issues a solo album.
–Jim Hynes, Glide Magazine 

Johnny’s ego-free dedication to the music is refreshing.  In a world where everyone wants to be a superstar, Johnny shines brightly.  He is truly an old-school bluesman.
–Bill Wilson, Reflections in Blue

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