Johnny had a bang-up year in ’23, earning a BMA Nomination for Best Traditional Blues Artist and playing 200 dates across the US, Mexico, Japan and Europe. But if you’d told him this would be his career when he was in High School, he wouldn’t have believed you. Johnny grew up in Mississippi and South Carolina and went to University of Chicago with the intention of becoming a writer. When a friend took him out to a West Side ghetto club to hear the blues singer TailDragger, it was a conversion moment. 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. By persistence and practice, Johnny gained a spot in Tail Dragger, and started gigging and recording with traditional blues veterans like Sam Lay, Billy Boy Arnold, and Pinetop Perkins. By the late 90s, Johnny was working regularly in Chicagoland blues clubs under his own name. Johnny started a Monday night residency at The Smoke Daddy in Wicker Park, featuring vocalist Jimmy Burns. The band featured other future blues notables who were also at the beginning of their careers, such as Kenny Smith on drums and Martin Lang on harp, and they created quite a buzz. They packed the club every Monday with a younger, hip crowd, as well as blues veterans stopping by to sit in such as Dave Meyers, Jesse Fortune, Barkin’ Bill, etc. Their success led to a record deal with Delmark and the first of several European tours.
