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“Bohemian Records” presents Jr. Johnny; endorsed by Hohner Harmonicas.

Junior Johnny blows into town with his WOW CD!
New York, NY– February, 2011; WOW, the twelth album from joumeyman blues harmonica player, songwriter and vocalist Junior Johnny. The brand new disc includes twelve soulful original compositions and some of the best examples yet of Johnny’s virtuoso toned blues harp.

So how did Jr. Johnny, the New York City bred grandson of polka playing Bohemian gypsies, end up devoting his life to Chicago-style blues? Like his playing, Junior Johnny’s answer is both delightfully tempestuous and effortlessly profound. “When I heard Muddy Waters, I just freaked out!” he exclaims. After honing his craft in several early ’60s teenage garage bands (actually “apartment bands,” the neighbor-annoying NYC equivalent), Johnny was drafted and served as a combat MP in Vietnam. When his tour of duty ended, he moved to San Francisco and was soon making a name for himself with now-legendary blues men like Mike Bloomfield and Jimmy Witherspoon. Subsequently, Junior got his dream gig performing alongside the man who would christen him “Jr. Johnny”: the great John Lee Hooker. “Hooker said he wanted me to have a nickname and just gave me one on the spot,” Junior explains. “It stuck.”

When the twin responsibilities of family and higher education forced him to give up life on the road, Junior Johnny began a series of wildly divergent professions that later gave him grist for his highly descriptive songwriting. “I’ve been everything from a union carpenter to a winemaster, “he says, “but I just wanna be out there playing!” Junior is currently busy promoting the WOW CD while readying material for his next release, due out January, 2012. As of this date, Junior has written 131 original songs, and his latest albums are linked in below.

WOW Latest Release (More Info)	Red Hot Released 2010 (More Info)
Jr. Johnny Blues Reviews Jr. Johnny has been cited as one of “the world’s finest blues players, yesterday and today.” HarmonicaLinks.com “Jr. Johnny specializes in highly competent screaming harmonica with a backing band hammering through some of the finest dive-bar blues to come out of Florida. Johnny and his ace team of Sunshine State bluesmen, the Usual Suspects, are back with a straight-up dose of working-class blues with Red Hot. The sound is…a whole lot of hip-shakin’ fun. “The nickname ‘Jr.’ was bestowed on Johnny by none other than John Lee Hooker when they crossed paths on the San Francisco club scene. Those bread and butter days turned Johnny into a monster harp player, one of the unsung heroes of the instrument. The way he can coax a warble and fire off a manic scream from his harmonica is a true gift.” Mark Uricheck, Living Blues Magazine. Jr.Johnny does it again with what he calls his best release to date. Vocally, he captures the mood of each of these originals, while his harmonica soars and pierces the blues then reaches back and cuddles it. For harp lovers all over the world, this should be considered essential listening. Students of the instrument would be well-adviced to pay attention to these tracks too. PayPlay.fm updated old-timey blues hideeho wrote on January 10, 2009 Sounds as if it’s been around for awhile…but fresh at the same time. Love that gravely voice!