BLUES JUNCTION Productions
7343 El Camino Real
Suite 327
Atascadero, CA 93422-4697
info
On a Sunday evening in Long Beach, California, I attended a blues show that was billed as Nathan James and The Rhythm Scratchers featuring James Harman. Part way through the opening set, and before Harman took the stage, Nathan invited a musician up to the stage to blow harp on a tune. It was a musician I had never seen. However, within seconds of hearing the sounds coming out of his harmonica, I knew exactly who I was listening to. It was Big Jon Atkinson.
I had heard about Jon from the founder and leader of the band The Silver Kings, Mark Mumea. He had told me about this incredible musician who just recently joined his band.
During the program’s second set that afternoon in Long Beach, James Harman invited Jon to sit in with him and the band. On this occasion Jon played guitar and even sang one song. He not only had command of each of these three instruments, voice, guitar and harmonica, he had soul.
On the break I introduced myself to the young musician. Jon is a twenty four year old who is a recent California transplant. He is a Florida native who grew up quickly in various towns along the upper gulf coast region. He moved out at the age of seventeen and began traveling across the country.
Big Jon Atkinson is a very serious player who in a very short time has played with some of the greatest blues musicians on the planet. His band The Silver Kings has a brand new CD out entitled, Tough Times. It is a study in early post war electric blues. Big Jon Atkinson sings, blows harp and plays guitar on this rather extraordinary album.
This may be the first time many of you have heard of him, but I guarantee you, it won’t be the last. It brings me great joy to share with our readers a conversation I had with Big Jon Atkinson.
David Mac (DM): It was great to have a chance to hear you play over the past couple of weeks. Before we get started I wanted to let you know that you are the youngest musician to be interviewed here at BLUES JUNCTION.
John Atkinson (JA):Thanks Dave. I am very happy that you have taken an interest in my music.
DM: What is interesting to me Jon is that you are from the generation who could research this music via the internet. You could pull up a YouTube video on an artist who had passed away decades before you were even born. You never knew a time before computers.
JA: That is true, but I really wasn’t much on computers as a kid. I mean I grew up just trying to learn my instrument and listening to CDs. I would sit in my room and listen, pause something and play it again and listen some more. I didn’t discover YouTube until I was twenty one or so. I remember when someone said to me that I can watch Wolf on YouTube. I thought “No fucking way.” But as you know there isn’t much there. Most of the stuff on any of the blues men I am interested is for the most part later in their careers so the videos don’t really showcase what these guys were doing in the 50’s.
DM: I hardly ever watch videos. I find the images can be distracting to the listening experience. I hear better when I am just listening and not watching. Music is NOT something you see.
JA: I couldn’t agree more. I don’t spend much time on the computer anyway.
DM: I am convinced that there simply no substitute for listening. Whether you are a musician like yourself or do what I do. The more you listen the better you get. That’s how you grow. When did you first start taking an interest in music?
JA: I really didn’t pay much attention until I was about fifteen years old. I listened to the radio, but that is nothing but bullshit music anyway.
DM: When did you start playing music?
JA: I started playing guitar around the same time. I moved to Las Vegas when I was eighteen. That’s when I got my first start. I started meeting some real good musicians like Junior Brantley, the keyboard player who played with Sonny Boy Williamson in the 60’s right before he died. He played with the Fabulous Thunderbirds back in the early days and on a couple of Jimmie Vaughan’s solo albums. I would play guitar with his guys three or four times a week at a place called the Sand Dollar.
DM: Do you remember some of the first recordings you got your ears around?
JA: I got really lucky. I grabbed three blues records off the shelf at random. I got a Little Walter record. I got a Howlin’ Wolf record that had some of his very early Sun Recordings that had Willie Johnson on guitar. I also got a Lightnin’ Hopkins record. From there I started putting the pieces together.
My biggest influence of the three records was the guitar of Willie Johnson on those early Wolf records. I was really into trying to get everything down he did, note for note. I was trying to get his tone down. His playing really blew my mind. He was my favorite and still is. He played on all the early Wolf records before Wolf hooked up with Hubert (Sumlin). I love those super distorted, nasty licks Willie Johnson was laying down.
Then I started working on the Little Walter stuff. It took me some time to really hear what was going on in those records. The Willie Johnson stuff with Wolf is out front, so obvious and I couldn’t help but to be drawn to it. The Walter stuff had the guitar kind of buried. You had bigger bands with a piano and two guitars so it was kind of hard to get. The guitar was there to support the music.
DM: When did you start playing other instruments?
JA: I didn’t really start getting serious playing other instruments until I was around 21 or so. I would get the occasional call to play bass. I understood the music so well because I had listened to this music so heavily by then. So when I was on a gig playing bass I knew what to do. I didn’t want to sound like another guitar player playing bass. So when somebody asks me to play some Chicago blues on bass, I just think about all the Willie Dixon stuff I listened to. I then started to take up harmonica and more recently drums.
DM: After you lived in Las Vegas you moved to Knoxville. Did you find any work there?
JA: Yes, I started a band called Big Jon and the Nationals. We played all over. We still have a bunch of pretty good stuff on Reverb Nation. We were just a bunch of young guys. We did some Chicago stuff, some Guitar Slim things and so on. I taught the band how to play the stuff the right way. We had a good little run.
DM: How long have you been in California?
JA: We moved out here from Knoxville about four months ago.
DM: We?
JA: That would be my wife and our baby girl who was born last December 3rd. My wife has family in the San Diego area and I always heard there was a pretty good blues scene here. I just wanted to find a place to play with other blues musicians.
DM: How did you meet Mark Mumea of The Silver Kings and The Elgins?
JA: I met Mark online. I already knew who he was. I really wanted to play with him.
DM: You have been playing all over and with some really good players.
JA: I met Karl Cabbage of Red Lotus Revue. He was the first guy to take me around town. He introduced me to a lot of musicians. He was a huge help and I can’t thank him enough for that. I got to play with his band Red Lotus Revue. I met Nathan James and played with him. So with that I met Troy Sandow and Marty Dotson. From there I got to meet James Harman and Billy Watson. I actually got to meet Al Blake. He offered me a gig he was doing with Fred Kaplan. I had to decline because I was already booked with Red Lotus Revue and I had to honor that commitment. Man, I would have loved to play with those guys.
DM: What is it about the music of The Silver Kings that you find attractive as a musician?
JA: For starters, it is because nobody else is doing it. It is very cool to play. You really have to do your homework to play this style of blues. It is so stripped down that there is nowhere to hide. You can’t really go up there and half ass it. That makes it very intriguing for a guy like me who is trying to be the best musician I can be. Playing with Mark has made me a better musician. He has helped me to become the musician that I have always wanted to be. It’s a real good thing for a young musician like me because it forces you to look at yourself and you can see what you need to work on and what needs to be fixed.
DM: Let’s talk about your singing. This aspect of the music often gets overlooked. It is sometimes just an afterthought for some musicians. I have heard you sing both live and on record and you can actually sing blues. How long have you been singing?
JA: I have been singing for about four years. Junior Brantley is the guy who got me started. He said, “If you really start to work on your singing you can be more valuable for bands even if you aren’t the main singer. You could offer relief to guys who need to give their voices a break now and again.” I mean if I am on a gig as a guitar player and we are doing a three or four hour show, I can give the guy a break and sing a set or two or just a song now and again to break things up. I remember Junior would just tell me to start singing. He would just throw me out there and say “Sing mother fucker.”
DM: How did you develop your technique and style?
JA: It’s just like all the other instruments, through listening. I have a pretty good ear and am a good listener. When I approach singing I try and learn how the masters sang rather than what notes they sang. I try and pick up their style.
DM: Who are some of your role models as it relates to your singing?
JA: Sonny Boy is a big one for me, with his big vibrato at the end of a note. His King Biscuit Time stuff was some of the first records I listened to. Wolfe is another big influence. Otis Spann is another one. I really dig his voice. He is such a wonderful singer. Charles Brown and some of the early west coast guys too. I like their style.
DM: What are some of the things you would like to do with your music?
JA: I would really just like to keep rolling along with The Silver Kings. I would also like to keep working on my drumming. Maybe get with a band and play some Chicago or jump blues. When Nathan gets back into town we are going to try and record some stuff. California has so many great musicians. I would just like to play with as many as I can. I would really like to meet Junior Watson some day and play with him.
DM: What is it about blues that has made you go down this path and dedicate your life to the music?
JA: It is just the best feeling music there is. It is just such incredible music. You fall in love with this music because of the emotion and the undeniable passion. You fall in love with the musicology of it. I mean if someone gets exposed to Muddy Waters music for instance, and does not fall in love with it, if they are not moved by what they hear, I think there is something wrong with them.
DM: Jon you have the talent to play any kind of music you want. Yet you chose blues music, knowing full well it will be a struggle for you all the way. This music has never found a mainstream audience and is largely misunderstood by most people, if they even give it any thought at all. By my way of thinking, by choosing this path, you are exhibiting true courage. I admire you for that.
JA: If you are looking to be a blues musician you have to have a lot of balls. You are up against a wall from the beginning.
The cool part though lies in the fact that if you are true blues, I don’t mean a blues-rocker, but a real blues musician, you are like part of a family. The big reward is the people you meet. The people whose paths we cross out there Dave seem to be of a higher caliber. I mean if you are one of those rocker-blues guys and you are trying to impress an audience with how many guitar solos you take in a night or how loud your amp is, the people you are going to meet who are involved with that or are attracted to that kind of music are going to be a bunch of jerk offs. On the other hand it takes a very special kind of person to understand this music because like you say it is not main stream. If they can hear the things we hear there is an automatic bond and mutual respect. I think that makes it all worthwhile. It makes the hardships that come with this life worthwhile.
DM: You got that right. Thanks Jon. I have enjoyed our visit today.
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BLUES JUNCTION Productions
7343 El Camino Real
Suite 327
Atascadero, CA 93422-4697
info