The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College will present the Rockin’ Johnny Band on Saturday, January 31, 2015 at 8:00 PM in Milliken Auditorium. Tickets are $25 advance, $28 at the door and $22 for museum members plus fees. Tickets may be purchased on line at www.dennosmuseum.org, or by calling the Museum Box office at 231-995-1553; also at 1-800-836-0717 or www.MyNorthTickets.com.
The Rockin’ Johnny Band will take the Milliken stage after completing a 3 week tour in Europe. Considered one of Chicago’s best loved blues bands, Leroy Alvarez, Blues DJ on WNMC 90.7 radio encouraged the Dennos to book this act as part of the 2014-2015 season. Alvarez says, “the band can be best explained as the current torchbearers of the rich tradition of electric Chicago Blues originally brought up from Mississippi by the great Blues bands such as Muddy Waters and Junior Wells & The Aces as Johnny’s sweet guitar playing conjures up the ghosts of the late great Magic Sam & Earl Hooker along with the now retired Otis Rush.”
Originally from South Carolina, guitarist Johnny Burgin moved to Chicago to attend the University of Chicago and earned the name “Rockin’ Johnny” while working as a DJ at a local college radio station. He began playing clubs on Chicago’s West Side with blues singer Tail Dragger before touring nationally with former Howlin’ Wolf drummer Sam Lay and blues piano player Pinetop Perkins.
Building on his experiences with the masters, Burgin organized his own band taking up a Monday night residency at The Smoke Daddy in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. The band captured a younger crowd that typically did not go to blues clubs with their energetic, original approach to the blues.
Delmark Records, a noted Chicago blues label, offered the group a contract after only hearing one set of a performance. Following the release of its first album, the band toured Europe, played festivals and headlined clubs throughout the Midwest.
The Rockin’ Johnny Band plays modern Chicago blues, but is also known for a wide repertoire which ventures into funk, rock, and swing. Their playing shows a spontaneous sense of fun, and always showcases fantastic guitar playing. Living Blues states: “top notch ensemble work, with power, drive, and a keen sense of dynamics.”
The 2014-2015 performance season at the Dennos Museum Center is made possible with support from Arts Midwest, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Robert T and Ruth Haidt Trust, and the Osterlin Performance Endowment with media support from WNMC 90.7, WCMU Public Broadcasting, Northern Express and TV 29&8 – 7&4. Housing for our performers is provided by the Cambria Suites and Country Inn and Suites.
The Dennos Museum Center is open daily 10 AM to 5 PM, Thursday’s until 8 PM and Sundays 1-5 PM. For more information on the Museum and its programs, go to www.dennosmuseum.org or call 231-995-1055. The Dennos Museum Center is located at 1410 College Dr., Traverse City, MI 49686, at the entrance to the campus of Northwestern Michigan College.