"..Slide
guitar is first about listening.. Then it's about feeling.. It's
about how you can make your guitar sound more like a voice than wood and
steel or bronze... Don't be afraid to play less, to work with your voice
and with the silence between the notes..
A
lotta nothing is still nothing. A little something... now THAT's something!!.."
Resonatin'
words of wisdom..
*
*
Live in Italy, June 2009. Playin
at the wonderful ROOTSWAY festival in Parma!!
Mostly old-timey 1920's and 30's unpolished,
raw delta, hokum & country blues stuff.. Spirituals(early
bluesy gospel) are
also an essential part of our repertoire!!
We play blues clubs, festivals,
churches,
cultural events etc.etc.. This kind of music fits in everywhere!!!!
Best
described as a mix of old-timey slideguitar Delta/Country blues and
Spirituals that have been heard and felt by audiences on numerous concerts
and shows around Scandinavia and Europe.. The heart in our music is the
genuine sound ofresonator
guitars, when performing, there's also washboard, harmonica, fiddle,
mandolin, kazoo and other typical instruments of the golden era! And
what a wonderful sound they all make!!What better way to get your audience in
the mood than with a set of laid back stuff from the Delta?!
Anywhere
where there´s a need for real old blues.. We´ll be there!!
Classic tunes from masters like Robert
Johnson, Son House, Blind Willie Johnson, Skip James, Muddy Waters, Tampa
Red, Bukka
White etc.. As well as my own songs in the genre of course..!!
*
Bottleneck
John's Delta Trio
Johan "Bottleneck John"
Eliasson, bluesmusiker frĺn Östersund. Han turnerar ute i Europa och har även gjort
en USA-turné i södra staterna Mississippi, Tennesee och Arkansas med
spelningar pĺ klubbar och festivaler där, bl.a. King Biscuit Blues
Festival i Helena! Som namnet antyder spelas det en hel del bottleneck
slide pĺ gitarrerna av resonatortyp, gamla plĺtburkar stämda i öppna
ackord. Bottleneck John's Delta Trio bjuder pĺ ol’timey blues,
hokum &
spirituals(tidig gospel med blues i botten) med rötterna djupt nere i 1920/30-talets Mississippidelta,
ibland intensiv, rĺ och tempofylld men även tillbakalutad och känslosam.
I trion har BJ oftast med sig munspelaren Stefan Swén och Lars Ĺstrand
spelandes pĺ de klassiska bluesinstrumenten mandolin och fiol, instrument
som i dagens elektrifierade bluesvärld för en lite undanskymd tillvaro.Men andra musiker ingĺr dĺ och dĺ i trion, t.ex. Mattias Nordqvist
pĺ piano och Fredrik Eriksson pĺ kontrabas.
BJ's Delta Trio bjuder
pĺ en musikalisk tidsresa med lĺtar av legendarer som Robert Johnson,
Son House, Bukka White, Blind Willie Johnson och Muddy Waters men även
eget material i denna traditionsfyllda genre!
Don
Hooper frĺn Unplugged Records i USA
kommenterade Bottleneck John sĺ här när han hörde Johan sjunga: "..It's as if Son House's voice has come alive again,
Deeply moving!!.."
*
*
The
past few years has taken BJ on tour to various stages/venues throughout Europe
and USA, among others:
-Rootsway
Blues & Food Festival, Parma, Italy 2009
-Davis
Jazz Club, Vienna, Austria 2008
-Arkansas
Blues & Heritage Festival, Helena, USA 2006
-Blues
au Chateau Festival, La Chčze, France 2007
-Swing
Blues Festival, Wespelaar, Belgium 2007
-Nidaros
Blues Festival, Trondheim, Norway 2007, 2005, 2003
-PaasBlues
Festival, Asten, The Netherlands 2007
-Copenhagen
Blues Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark 2006
-Dundee
Blues Bonanza, Dundee, Scotland 2005, 2006
-Ĺmĺl
Blues Festival, Ĺmĺl, Sweden 2005
-The
Helicon Jazz Cafe, Warsaw, Poland 2005
-Music
Café Pegasus, Munich, Germany 2006
-Breakfast
Blues, Bunky’s, Helena, Arkansas, USA 2006
-Streets
of Blues Festival, Tropea, Italy 2005, 2006
-Frankfurt Musik
Messe,
Amistar Guitars, Germany 2006
-Felsenkeller,
Schwandorf, Germany 2006
-Jazzland,
Vienna, Austria 2006
-Mississippi
Welcome Center, Lula, MS, USA 2006
-Blues
Cruise on the Baltic Sea, 2005, 2007
-Dalane
Blues Festival, Egersund, Norway 2006, 2007
Playin' the old 12-string blues, Leadbelly style..
*
Sometimes Fredrik Eriksson joins
us on double-bass!!
*
*
*
From
Austria!
"..For
me a genuine sensation from the cool north. This Bottleneck John (g&voc) -
alias Johan Eliasson - seems nothing like a “northern” Swede actually. He
has enormous temperament and passion
and his interpretations of the old songs of Robert Johnson, Son House and Blind
Willie Johnson sounds so convincing, as if they would be his own compositions (which
he can also write and play in this great tradition).
Without a doubt he is one the great ones of the Blues in Europe and
our local hero Christian Prechtl has to put up a strong effort to play against such
a musical heavyweight.."
Axel
Melhardt, Jazzland, Austria 2007-08-09
*
From
Belgium!
BOTTLENECK JOHN’S
DELTA TRIO
De Zweed Bottleneck John, of Johan Eliasson, heeft een voorliefde
voor old time blues, al begon hij aanvankelijk zoals zovele
anderen in een elektrisch bluesrockbandje. Maar de akoestische
Delta countryblues met slidegitaar of Resonator bekeerde hem en
sindsdien treedt hij op als Bottleneck John, solo of met
occasionele kompanen zoals Stefan Swén en Lars Ĺstrand. Hij
toerde zowat overal rond in Scandinavië, Europa of Amerika en in
2006 stond hij op het Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival in
Helena. Toen hij in de Mississippi Delta optrad was het hem te
moede alsof hij thuiskwam. Ergens kan je daar inkomen als je zijn
ongepolijste blues en Spirituals beluistert. Met veel overgave en
rokerige stem zingt hij elf songs, allemaal ‘First Takes’.
Zijn voorliefde gaat uit naar de bluespioniers Robert Johnson, Son
House en Muddy Waters. Op ‘Sitting On Top of the World’
begeleidt violist Lars haast sacraal de songtekst van mijmerende
John. Het trio voelt elkaar goed aan. Duizendpoot John zingt,
speelt op één van zijn akoestische of Resonatorgitaren en
varieert met mandoline, banjo, banjolin en kazoo. Stefan Swén
blaast met veel gevoel op zijn mondharmonica en als Lars met zijn
viool of mandoline bijspringt is de Delta Deal jaren 1920 –’40
rond. Op ‘Preachin’ the Blues’ wekken de MojoBox en de
harmonica die sfeer op die nostalgisch maakt naar een tijd waarin
vocale of instrumentale expressie primeerde, al zijn sommige van
John’s instrumenten wel gemoderniseerd. Ook de Spirituals komen
fris over. Blijkbaar kan religie toch stand houden in deze 21ste
eeuw. Wie zei ook alweer dat je geen Afro-Amerikaan uit
Mississippi moet zijn om de Heer aan te roepen wanneer het water
aan je lippen staat. Vooral de traditional ‘Didn’t My Lord
Deliver Daniel’ wekt ontroering op door die resonerende
weerklank alsof Blind Willie Johnson’s silhouet zich even tegen
de Kerkmuur aftekent. Ergens vertelde Bottleneck John dat zijn
oudste bespeelbare gitaar dateert van 1840/’50. Dan weet je dat
je met een freak te doen hebt. Maar wel met een van het ontwapende
soort, want de liefde voor de spirituele Delta blues doordrenkt
elk nummer.
And
in English:
"The Swedish
guitarplayer Bottleneck John, or Johan Eliasson, shows a
preference for his love of old time blues, although he started his
career as many others did, in an electric bluesrock band. However
his love for the acoustic delta countryblues slideguitar otherwise
known as resonator converted him. Ever since then he performs as
Bottleneck John, performing solo, or accompanied by fellow
musicians such as Stefan Swén and Lars Ĺstrand. He has toured
throughout Scandinavia, Europe and America, and performed at the
Arkansas Blues and Heritage festival in Helena. Performing in the
Mississippi Delta was like a homecoming to him. Somehow you can
imagine it when listening to his unpolished blues and spirituals.
With conviction and a raw smoker’s voice he performed eleven
songs, all of them “first takes”, with his evident love for
blues pioneers like Robert Johnson, Son House en Muddy
Waters.
While performing the song “Sitting On Top Of The World”
violoinist Lars sacrilegiously accompanies the song’s lyrics of
low voiced John. The trio are harmoniously matched, while
allrounder John sings and plays on one of his acoustic resonator
guitars and alternates between mandolin, banjo, banjoline and
kazoo.
Stefan Swén blows the harmonica with great feeling, and when Lars
accompanies him with violin or mandolin, the Delta Blues 1920-40
scenario is complete.
Especially in “Preaching the Blues” the longing for a
nostalgic atmosphere is heartily felt towards a time when
instrumental expression reigned supreme, regardless of whether
some of John’s instruments have been modernized. The Spirituals
too emit a fresh clean atmosphere. Apparently religion can still
hold it’s own in the 21st century.
Whoever proclaims that you do not need to be an Afro American from
the Mississippi to praise the lord when in dire straits!!
Especially the traditional song ‘Didn’t My Lord Deliver
Daniel’ evoked true emotion; as if Blind Willie Johnson’s
silhouette suddenly appeared on the church walls. Sometime in the
past Bottleneck John has told of his oldest playable guitar which
dates back to between 1840 and 1850. So you can gather that
we’re dealing with a true guitar freak here. But a highly
pleasant one because every song he performs is steeped in his
evident love for the Spiritual Delta Blues."
Marcie, Belgium-The Netherlands
2008-10-13
*
France!
Bottleneck John's
Delta Trio
Acoustic Blues & Spirituals
2008
On reste dans le trio acoustique, mais en se déportant vers l'Est
cette fois. En effet, Johann Eliasson, alias Bottleneck John, et
ses acolytes sont Suédois. Un pays oů, si la géographie et le
climat diffčrent du Grand Sud américain, on aime le blues avec
passion. Celle de Bottleneck John consiste ŕ perpétuer une
tradition d'entre-deux guerres, y compris en ajoutant des
instruments plus communs dans le blues d'alors qu'aujourd'hui,
tels le banjo, la mandoline, le violon et le kazoo. Le trio
utilise aussi guitares (avec ou sans résonnateur) et harmonicas,
ainsi qu'un instrument de percussion mis au point par Eliasson, la
MojoBox*. Le trio préfčre aussi explorer le répertoire
traditionnel plutôt que d'offrir de nouvelles compos, mais il le
fait de belle façon, avec subtilité, délicatesse parfois, et un
amour certain pour la musique. Les démos antérieures ŕ ce 1er
album nous avaient convaincu que Bottleneck John, avec sa grosse
voix pleine et ses guitares métalliques, était un artiste solo
tout ŕ fait intéressant, son association ŕ Stefan Swén (harmonicas
et chant) et Lars Astrand (violon, mandoline et chant) ne font que
confirmer le talent de cet artiste venu du Nord. A eux trois, nos
amis nous distillent un blues tranquille et Ô combien apaisant,
un blues ŕ écouter au coin du feu, un verre de vieil Armagnac ŕ
la main.
*www.bottleneckjohn.com/mojoboxenglish.htm
BBFer : Bottleneck John (chant, guitares, banjo, mandoline,
footstompnin ' et kazoo
www.myspace.com/bottleneckblues
English version :
Let's stay with acoustic trios, but this time we'll move East. As
a matter of fact, Johann Eliasson, aka Bottleneck John, and his
assistants are Swedish. It's a country where, if geography and
weather quite differ from the American Deep South, blues is loved
with passion. Bottleneck John's consists in perpetrating the
pre-war tradition, including the addition of instruments more
often used then than they are now such as banjo, mandolin, violin
and kazoo. The trio also uses guitars (with or without resonators)
and harmonicas, as well as an Eliasson made percussion instrument,
the MojoBox*. The band also favors covers over originals, but the
guys do it in a beautiful way, with subtlety, sometimes even
delicassy, and an obvious love of the music. Demos previous had conviced us that Bottleneck John, with his big,
ample voice and his metallic guitars, was quite an interesting
solo act, but his association with Stefan Swén (harmonicas and
vocals) and Lars Astrand (violin, mandolin and vocals) only
confirms the talent of this artist from the North. The three of
them pour some quiet and peaceful blues, some blues to be listened
to by the fireplace, a glass of old Armagnac in hand.
*www.bottleneckjohn.com/mojoboxenglish.htm
BBFer : Bottleneck John (vocals, guitars, banjo, mandolin,
footstompnin ' & kazoo)
www.myspace.com/bottleneckblues
René
Malines, French Blues Magazine, France
2008-08-06
*
Hungary!!
Szerző:
Czékus Mihály
2008. július 26. 6.56
Aki legalább egyszer meghallgatja az ő előadásában a
Gipsy Womant, a Just Keep Goin’ Ont vagy a In Vaint, az örökre
megjegyzi és soha senki máséval nem fogja összekeverni Mr Bluesman
hangját. Ráadásul a blues műfaja olyan, hogy ezek a dalok nem
veszítik el az aktualitásukat egy szezon után, még évek múlva is
képesek örömet szerezni a hallgatójuknak. A
Consorcium Vocale is egy ősi zenét tár elénk, a gregoriánt. Végül
egy Nora Jones hangjára emlékeztető énekes, Jackie Bristow
lemezét ajánljuk.
Bottleneck John’s Delta Trio: Acoustic Blues & Spirituals
A blues a 60-as évek táján már városi zeneként érkezett a
kontinensünkre, és sokkal nagyobb inspiráló erővel hatott az
itteni muzsikusokra, mint a country. Ez
az alapállás mind a mai napig igaz. Bottleneck John (polgári nevén
Johan Eliasson) svéd származású bluesénekes, gitáros és dalszövegíró.
Szerzeményeivel a Mississippi deltájának blueszenéjét hozza el
Európába. A világ bármelyik táján is rendeznek bluesfesztivált,
ő biztosan felbukkan ott. Előadói nagyságát és a blues
iránti elkötelezettségét jól példázza, hogy ugyanolyan szívesen
játszik egy blueskocsmában néhány maroknyi embernek, mint egy
fesztiválon több ezer hallgató előtt. Egyszer arról faggatták,
hogy miként éli meg belül a koncerteket. A legnagyobb természetességgel
csak ennyit mondott: „That’s my life… I Love it!”
Bottleneck Acoustic Blues & Spirituals címet viselő albumát
2008. április 27-én rögzítették a Sörehammar stúdióban, Svédországban.
A közel egyórás repertoár 11 kompozíciót foglal magába. A konkrét
szerzőkhöz köthető számok mellett két remek, időtlen
tradicionális dalt is hallhatunk (a Didn’t My Lord Deliver Danielt
és az I Want Jesus To Walk With Me-t.
Bottleneck előadói virtuozitásához kétség sem fér, szinte már
az első húrfogástól kezdve hallható, hogy mestere az általa
megszólaltatott valamennyi hangszernek. (Természetesen főként
a kedvenc gitárjainak.) Mr. Bluesman és muzsikusai között az összhang
mindenféle mesterkéltségtől mentes. Remekül együttműködnek
a varázslatos instrumentális hangzás szövetének megalkotásában.
Könnyen megszerethető lemez. Megszerezni mondjuk egy kicsit
nehezebb, de a világháló online boltjainak a segítségével nem is
lehetetlen.
Szerzői kiadás, 2008
Honlap
Czékus
Mihály, Hungary 2008-07-20
*
From
Denmark!
Here's a
really, really nice soulful review on one of my Copenhagen Bluesfest gigs..!!
It had been a long day, following
an out late Thursday evening listening to some really good blues at Denmark's
Copenhagen Blues Festival. Invested were several hours on the Internet looking
over the thirteen different acts on Friday night's festival slate,
and visiting lots of web sites to listen to sample tracks/cuts. It was so
difficult to settle on just one to hear live. (Or two at the most, since it
might be possible to hear one and then squeeze into a later set at some other
club.)
Making a decision like that drives
me crazy--I just know it might be the wrong one. But, with much thought the
decision was made: we would give "Bottleneck John" a try.
The room was claustrophobic in
size and plain beyond words--no stage, just a few tables and chairs, a couple of
speakers (not hooked up), and the sounds of uninvolved and uninterested people
eating just across the way. The crowd for the music wasn't a crowd at all. At
the appointed hour for the music to begin it was obvious that a mistaken
decision had been made... there were a dozen folks (at most) ready and
attentive for the blues. Oh no! Surely the (maybe) tens of thousands of Danes
who would hear live music that night couldn't all be wrong-- and just us
few in the little ground level room at Husets Café right.
There wasn't even someone from the
Festival there to introduce him. So the guy clutching the metal faced guitar
walked over and stood before the chair centered between the speakers (still not
connected) and began by saying "I'm Johan Eliasson from Sweden . . .
".
He didn't talk long and I don't
remember anything else he said because the only thing in my head was that little
voice saying: "Oh man! You dummy, you should be over at Mojo's listening
to SomeOneElse...look at this pitiful turnout...and, there are so few people
here you can't even sneak out unnoticed."
But, when Johan Eliasson
stopped talking and he let "Bottleneck John" sit down...well... magic
happened.
I don't how, but suddenly the
reincarnation of some now long dead Mississippi delta bluesman was playing his
Amistar Reso-Phonic guitar like it was an extension of his being... an appendage
of his soul, a part of his being.
And when he sang it was like some
alien's mother ship had tractor-beamed that 35 year old Swedish born Johan
Eliasson into its evil airborne lab...scraped out Johan and stuffed him with the
insides of an old black man with bad teeth...fresh from a full day of back
breaking pickin' in the hot and dusty cotton fields.
[Now listen readers, I know what
I'm talking about: Born a mile and a half from the corner of Beale and Main
Streets in Memphis Tennessee, I grew up in a house less than 200 meters from a
cotton field in West Memphis Arkansas. Hey, I know a little something about
about cotton sack breaking and acking back, toothless black men and their
blues--at least I have seen it.]
Real blues...the stuff that comes
from the heartache and pain of real life in the fertile fields of the broad
delta of the mighty Mississippi river back during those terrible times of
inequality. John's were REAL blues, or a so close substitute that it was
impossible (for me) to tell the difference. "Bottleneck John" is not
some slick, button-downed studio hawker with a digitized, synthesized,
commercialized and focus group selected "unique and marketable sound".
Nope, this is like what Robert
Johnson actually played on the front porch of some Mississippi River delta
grocery store, while sittin' in a rocker and singin' the roots of what has today
become "The Blues".
But, Robert Johnson was not in
Copenhagen that Friday night--this was "Bottleneck John", and when I
closed my eyes it became so real that I could almost hear the pops and scratches
on the records of the 1950s...where I had first heard that soulful music. Mine
was most often heard on the RCA Victor wooden cabinet, console radio and record
player which was the centerpiece of our modest living room. Long before anyone
in town had one of those new television things, we had a radio that was a lot
bigger than a TV set is today. It had a speaker a full foot across and, during
the day our "maid" (we didn't call her our "mammy", but she
was) would tune in WDIA, the AM radio station over in Memphis which we all knew
as "the Negro station". A station, which in the 1950s had a "Beale
Street Blues Boy" singing live on the air. That name was later shortened to
"Blues Boy" and, later still to a simple "BB". That is right,
B.B. King played right into my living room, live, when i was kid--listening.)
We would listen to "Negro
music" until time for mom or dad to get home...and, then 'Louise' would
re-tune to "yall's kind'a music". Yep, I grew up on real blues...and,
through the magic of an alien mother ship (or something) you too can relive the
experience.
Do yourself a favor--if all you
know about "the blues" is hard driving dancin' music you need to make
the chance sit at the feet of "Bottleneck John" for an hour or
two--more if you are really lucky. And enjoy a little time travel back to the
roots of good, down home, cotton pickin', God-fearing, closely kin to church
music, blues...take the trip...and, don't worry about those tens of thousands of
folks who are not smart enough to be exactly where you are!
DenverD
A Texan in Denmark
*
*
*
*
Tools of our trade..
*
*
The Delta Trio!!
*
*
*
*
Kazoo-trumpet....!?
*
*
The Delta Trio - Live at the Coffee House!
*
On a festival stage..
*
Lined up for recording..
*
*
Stefan plays acoustic through
an old megaphone, haha..!!