Review: Johnny Burgin – Ramblin’ From Coast To Coast
Johnny Burgin – Ramblin’ From Coast To Coast
Format: CD – Digital / Label: Straight Shooter Records
Release: 2024
Text: Pascal Wilhelm
I am a fan of Cadillac Zack’s You Tube Channel “Cadillac Zack presents the blues” and that is where I first learned about Johnny Burgin.
I also checked a few videos of his own in which he discusses interesting stuff on blues guitar. Initially Johnny wanted to become a writer, but there was a conversion moment when a friend took him to a Chicago blues club to see Tail Dragger. It was blues afterwards.
But surely, his writing skills are adding to the pack, and it is therefore of no surprise that it is all originals on this record featuring John Blues Boyd and Rae Gordon and a school of younger blues enthusiasts like Ben Levin, Hanna PK, Jad Tariq, Jon Hay and Dylan Bishop.
Starting out as a Chicago artist, his style became more West Coast infused when he moved to the Bay area and has now developed into an inclusive, international approach.
This is his eleventh album to his own name, but he features on many others as a sideman, including artists like Johnny Sansone, Paul DeLay, Bob Corritore, Jimmy Burns, Aki Kumar, Joel Astley and Ben Levin. And yes, he also played with his conversion object, the late Tail Dragger himself.
Johnny is an excellent example of a musician with a deep love for the blues and with grit and persistence manages to get his blues on, never trying to get ahead but always trying to be his own man (I am hinting at Getting My Blues On and Never Tried To Get Ahead).
Just great blues here folks! Let’s all be fans of Johnny!
Tracks:
01. Ramblin‘ From Coast To Coast
02. Gettin’ My Blues On
03. I Need Something Sweet
04. Silently Suffering
05. Stepladder Blues
06. Cincinnati Boogie
07. Fresno Woman
08. I’m Playing Straight ft. John Blues Boyd, vc
09. Older And Wiser ft. Rex Gordon, vc
10. I Was Right The First Time
11. Vacation From The Blues
12. Never Tried To Get Ahead
Website: https://johnnyburgin.com/