6:00pm • $10 Tickets on Eventbrite and at the door
Johnny Burgin performs over 200 shows a year in Europe, Japan and coast to coast in the US. Johnny grew up in Mississippi and went to University of Chicago at 18, but ended up attending "blues university". Johnny met a DJ on the college radio station who took him to see the Howlin' Wolf style singer Tail Dragger on the West Side of Chicago. Tail Dragger took Johnny under his wing and gave him his first professional gigs, and from there Johnny learned quickly and went on to tour or gig 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".
Johnny’s played on dozens of records as a sideman and as a leader, he’s released ten CDs on Delmark and Vizztone records. His most recent efforts are Johnny Burgin Live, which features special guests Charlie Musselwhite, Nancy Wright and Rae Gordon and debuted at #3 on the Living Blues Blues Radio Chart. No Border Blues: Japan came from Johnny’s many tours and long relationships in Japan and is the first American compilation of the underground Japanese blues scene. Vintage Guitar stated: “Stellar fretwork, gloriously loose, earthy and immediate Chicago blues”. He was nominated for a BMA for Best Traditional Blues CD of 2017 for Howlin' at Greaseland, a Howlin' Wolf tribute, and by Blast Blast for Best Live Release in 2020.
"Stellar Guitar Playing": Vintage Guitar
Harmonica player Bruce Ewan is respected as a blues musician in his native town of Washington, D.C., where he has been active musically for more than 25 years and has been called “a harmonica wizard” by the Washington Post.
Since 1995, Bruce Ewan has been part of the international blues scene as well, touring Europe and Latin America to great acclaim. In 2003, he and his brother, guitarist Bobby Radcliff, played the Granada Jazz Festival, accompanied by The Blues Blasters, widely regarded as Spain’s top blues band. In the United States, Bruce has shared the stage with artists like John Lee Hooker, Albert Collins, and Carey Bell; recorded with Big Joe & the Dynaflows, and performed in venues from New York to Florida. He has also made joint appearances with his older brother, blues guitarist Bobby Radcliff.
Bruce Ewan’s virtuosity on the harmonica stands out among his peers and competitors. He plays complex solos that combine flurries of notes, changes of tonality, and a keen sense of timing. Thoroughly schooled in the history and traditions of the blues in general and the blues harp in particular, he is a master of both diatonic and chromatic harmonica. His vocals, too, are faithful to the subtleties and nuances of authentic-sounding blues.
Bruce's repertoire is not limited to a rotation of the most common or clichéd blues. Instead, he reaches deep into the blues heritage for an intriguing blend of obscure as well as familiar blues tunes originated by great blues harmonica players. He especially prides himself on his work on the chromatic harmonica, augmenting the “Chicago style” of Little Walter and George “Harmonica” Smith with jazzy inflections.