Career
Johnny Burgin was a student and college radio DJ at the University of Chicago where he was given his famous nickname, "Rockin' Johnny". [2] [3] In 1988, he encountered fellow DJ and harpist David Waldman, who played and recorded with Tail Dragger Jones, Smokey Smothers, and others, which led him to a trip to Chicago's West Side to meet and sit in with Jones. [4]
Johnny Burgin played gigs in high school. He worked on his blues style and performed on Thursday nights at Lilly's in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, with the Ice Cream Men. [5] They were a blues band that included Steve Cushing (drums), Scott Dirks (harp), and Dave Waldman (guitar).
Burgin was then hired by Tail Dragger Jones and began playing four nights a week on Chicago's West Side with seasoned blues performers such as Eddie Burks, Mary Lane, Johnny B. Moore, Lurrie Bell, Little Mack Simmons, Little Arthur Duncan, Jimmy Dawkins, and Johnny Littlejohn among others. He toured the Midwest with Pinetop Perkins, [1] who often had Dave Meyers, a member of the Aces, on bass. Burgin also toured nationally for two years with Sam Lay, [6] drummer for Howlin' Wolf and Paul Butterfield.
In 1994, Burgin began a residency at Smoke Daddy, a venue in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. [2] The band featured Jimmy Burns on vocals and guitar, Martin Lang on harp, Sho Komiya on bass, and either Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith (son of Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, drummer for Muddy Waters) or Kelly Littleton (drummer for Lil' Ed Williams). During the residency in 1996, Bob Koester, founder of Delmark Records, signed Jimmy Burns with Burgin's band after hearing one set.
Burgin recorded his debut CD "Straight Out Of Chicago" [7] as a bandleader in 1997. [2] Collaborations with blues musicians, and European tours, followed.
In 2002, Burgin left the music business to take care of his family, [8] then returned in January 2009. In the June 1, 2015, edition of the Chicago Tribune , reporter Rick Kogan wrote, "There are few more passionate practitioners of [blues] music than Johnny Burgin".
Burgin released seven CDs between 2010 and 2020 and increased his touring schedule to perform more than 250 performances a year. In 2016, he moved from Chicago to California and collaborated with West Coast players such as Aki Kumar, Kid Andersen, Alabama Mike, Nick Gravenites, Nancy Wright, and Andy Santana. [9]
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