Rockin' Johnny Burgin

Johnny Burgin was a student and college radio DJ at the University of Chicago when a chance encounter in 1988 with fellow DJ/harp player David Waldman, who played and recorded with Tail Dragger, Smokey Smothers and others, led to a trip to Chicago's West Side to meet and sit in with Tail Dragger.  

Although Burgin had already been playing gigs since high school, his initial complete failure in an authentic blues club setting led him to throw away his guitar playing style and start from scratch.  He focused on learning an authentic blues style and worked every Thursday night at Lilly's in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood with the Ice Cream Men, a band of blues purists that included Steve Cushing on drums, Scott Dirks on harp and Dave Waldman on guitar. The Ice Cream Men regularly backed traditional Chicago blues artists like Golden "Big" Wheeler, Tail Dragger, Jimmy Lee Robinson and Bonnie Lee. 

Within a few years, Burgin was hired by Tail Dragger 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, to name just a few. He toured the Midwest with Pinetop Perkins, who often had Dave Meyers, a member of the Aces, on bass.  Burgin got his first taste of intensive national touring when he went on the road for two years with legendary Howlin' Wolf/Paul Butterfield drummer Sam Lay. 

In 1994, Burgin began what became a very popular residency at Smoke Daddy in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. The band featured Jimmy Burns on vocals and guitar, college mate Martin Lang on harp,  Sho Komiya on bass, and either Kenny Smith (son of Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, the great Muddy Waters drummer) or Kelly Littleton (longtime drummer for Lil’ Ed Williams).  This residency gave Burgin's career a boost when Bob Koester, founder of Delmark Records, signed Jimmy Burns with Burgin's band after hearing one set back in 1996. 

Soon after that big break, Burgin recorded his debut CD (Straight Out of Chicago) as a band leader in 1997.  The CD cemented his reputation as one of the hottest blues band in Chicago in the 1990s and led to collaborations with many legendary blues musicians and the beginning of his European tours.

In 2002 Burgin left the music business completely to raise his family, but returned full force in January 2009 to the business he loves.  Since his return to music, he has become recognized as a mature, committed blues artist. In the June 1, 2015 edition of the Chicago Tribune, reporter Rick Kogan said this about Burgin: “There are few more passionate practitioners of [blues] music than Johnny Burgin.”  

Since his return to the music scene, Burgin redoubled his efforts in the studio and released seven new CDs between 2010 and 2020. He also has steadily increased his touring schedule and currently performs more than 250 nights a year. A 2016 move from Chicago to Petaluma, CA, brought new collaborations with leading old and new West Coast players such as Aki Kumar, Kid Andersen, Alabama Mike, Nick Gravenites, Nancy Wright and Andy Santana.

Johnny Burgin was born July 17, 1969, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, but grew up mostly in Starkville, Mississippi, his father's hometown. Burgin's father was an actor and folk musician who taught Burgin how to play guitar. Burgin moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1988 to attend the University of Chicago. He had planned to become a writer, but fell into the local blues scene and never looked back.

He relocated from Chicago to Petaluma in 2016 and then to Portland, Oregon in 2019. He dropped the "Rockin'" from his name in 2019 and is now billed simply as Johnny Burgin.

AS A BAND LEADER

AS A SIDEMAN

• Kogan, Rick (June 1, 2015). "Rockin' Johnny Burgin is glad to be playing the blues again". Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 19, 2018.

• Bman (March 24, 2017). "West Tone Records artist: Rockin' Johnny Burgin - Neoprene Fedora - New Release review". Bman’s Blues Report. Bman’s Blues Report. Retrieved May 20, 2018.

• Hughes, Andrew S. (March 2, 2017). "West Tone Records artist: Rockin' Johnny Burgin - Neoprene Fedora - New Release review". South Bend Tribune. South Bend Tribune. Retrieved May 20, 2018.

• Mullins, Terry (October 9, 2015). "Featured Interview – Rockin' Johnny Burgin". Blues Blast magazine. Blues Blast. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
• Grant, Kim (December 3, 2014). "TJ WEST: Rockin' Johnny Burgin". TJ Music. TJ Music. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
• Johnson, Kevin. "The return of Rockin' Johnny". Chicago Blues Guide. Chicago Blues Guide. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
• Limnios, Michalis (October 7, 2013). "Guitarist Rockin' Johnny Burgin talks about Tail Dragger, the old cats of Windy City and Delmark records". BLUES @ GREECE. Chicago Blues Guide. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
• Oudiz, Jack (1998). "CD REVIEW: Straight Out of Chicago". Blues Access site. Cary Wolfson, Blues Access. Retrieved May 20, 2018.

• Johnny Burgin website