Ethnomusicology Project: Artist Interview

Among the elements of the project for my Ethnomusicology class is and interview with a performer about their artistic process.  Of course, since I host Blues Power, I thought this would be a great opportunity to get a two for one.  Not only could I interview someone for my class project, but I could also get some great content for the show.  So I set up an interview with John "Honeyboy" Turner of the Honeyboy Turner Band from Lincoln, NE, who would be playing in Marysville that weekend (November 8) with Rockin' Johnny Burgin from Chicago.  However, I ended up getting even more of a two for one because Rockin' Johnny agreed to do an interview as well!  So I recorded the two half hour interviews and shared them on my show last week (November 6) along with music from Rockin' Johnny and Honeyboy Turner.  In the interviews, we talked about how Honeyboy and Rockin' Johnny had become interested in the blues, how they had met, and what they saw in the blues scenes that they performed in, especially the blues scene in Chicago.

You can listen to the full interviews and several songs from each band on my podcast here or at bluesdjben.blogspot.com:

You can also find more interviews I've done in the past on my interviews page.*

Honeyboy Turner discovered the blues in much the same way I did, by listening to blues-influenced classic rock, and then going back to the original blues.  However, unlike me, Turner picked up an instrument, the harmonica, and became the "go-to guy" for local rock bands around Lincoln.  Eventually in the early '90s he met up with guitarist Harvey Brindell, who had recently formed a blues band called Cryin' Heart.  The band added drummer Gary Williams and Dave Wagner and found success performing in Lincoln, Omaha, and the surrounding area.  After a hiatus of several years, they got the band back together and continue to perform regularly.

Rockin' Johnny Burgin's musical beginnings were very different from the kid growing up on the Great Plains.  He grew up in South Carolina, and his dad was a folk musician.  Burgin shared his father's interest in music and picked up the guitar, but he preferred a more electric style.  When he moved to Chicago to attend the University of Chicago, he became especially interested in the blues due to the city's readily available blues scene.  He hosted a rock show on the college radio station, but he soon gave that up in favor of playing weekly gigs in the city's blues bars.  The gruff-voiced Tail Dragger was the first to give Burgin the role of sideman in his band, and a few years later when Tail Dragger wound up in jail, Burgin got his first experience as a bandleader.  Eventually, Burgin attracted the attention of Bob Koester at Chicago's Delmark Records, and after some prompting, Koester signed Burgin after seeing a particularly good performance the Smoke Daddy.

The paths of the Honeyboy Turner Band and Rockin' Johnny Burgin crossed one year after the Chicago Blues Festival.  Harvey Brindell had traveled to the festival several times, and one year he brought Turner with him.  The two saw Burgin performing along with a Chicago blues review in a bar following the main festival events.  They struck up a conversation and stayed in touch, and now whenever Burgin comes out to Nebraska, the Honeyboy Turner Band is there to be his backing band, and they have also collaborated on a few larger shows including one this spring in Lincoln that also featured Tail Dragger and singer Mary Lane.

The subject of Chicago's blues scene provided much fertile ground for discussion.  I was particularly interested to ask after reading selections in class from sociologist David Grazian's book Blue Chicago: The Search for Authenticity in Urban Blues Clubs, which gave an image of the Chicago blues scene as being choked by pressures from the many tourist who patronize the city's blues clubs.  Not surprisingly both Turner and Burgin seemed to be keen on steering clear of the most touristy clubs.  Turner judged the authenticity of the experience he related by the audience in the bar, but rather than just generic locals, the audience members who stood out to Turner were a couple of blues industry heavyweights, Dick Shurman and Bruce Iglauer himself from Alligator Records, as well as several local musicians who were in the audience.  Burgin had some good advice for anyone familiar with the blues: if you're looking for where the authetic blues is, look at who's performing.  For a tourist unfamiliar with the blues, this advice might not help much, but if one is familiar with the blues, it is not hard to tell which perfomers are likely to put on a good show without pandering to the crowd.  The places these performers play are good places to look for good Chicago blues.  While he had played the touristy clubs a few times, Burgin said he preferred almost exclusively to play the smaller, quieter clubs like the Smoke Daddy that allowed him to "do my own thing."  Burgin's style is rooted in tradition, but it is still unconventional, and it desires an audience that is willing to truly listen.

I also talked with Honeyboy Turner about the blues scene in Lincoln.  Although not a large city, Lincoln does have a fairly active blues scene, especially since the Zoo Bar is a blues bar that brings in quality national touring acts on a regular basis.  In addition, Lincoln was the home of Magic Slim (Morris Holt), a noted Chicago-style blues guitarist and singer, for the last few decades of his life, and his son Shawn Holt still lives there.  Turner said that conversing with the many people he met at the Zoo Bar was very important during his early years as a musician.  In more recent years, he has preferred playing the blues to going to concerts.  While many people in the smaller towns the band frequents are not familiar with the blues, they have been able to gain somewhat of a following due to Brindell's booking talents and the bands fun and lively performances.

*After-deadline edit--linking to interviews page.