
Johnny
"Guitar" Knox is a real bluesman. He helped define the blues scene
in Sacramento. Johnny's a homeless man, a true-blue soul and one of the finest
acoustic blues guitarist living in the world today. When I ran into him last
year at the Chicago Blues Festival, he was bummed out that the cops had cited
him for playin' in the streets during a fest where they were celebrating bluesmen
like Robert Johnson and Johnny Shines;
musicians who hoboed from town to town, playin' the blues on street comers and
juke joints. Johnny was doin' the same thing, only in our time, and it was a
crime.
He's
a throwback, a bluesman, livin' the life, ridin' the rails, hitchin' a ride,
playin' on the comer, tryin' to make enough to eat. Most people don't understand
the blues, and they don't understand Johnny "Guitar" Knox. It's unfortunate
that people like him are not always appreciated in today's times.
-Big Mike
Check out Johnny's Have Mercy! release, Hoboin'