- Blues singer - Bottleneck guitar player - Songwriter -
" It's as if Son House's voice has come alive again. Deeply moving! "...
Don Hooper, Unplugged Records, USA
Hello there, thanks for finding your way to my place on the web!!
And
you
are most welcome!
-You
have now found your way to my bluesy oasis in cyberspace.. This page was from the
beginning thought to be a page only for my escapades in music but I will
keep it open for many other things in my life as well!! This page will
contain both photos with various content and soundfiles.
-This
has happened:
I was born and raised in a small community
called Lit,(it’s a small village 25 km's outside Östersund).
-My
grandmother Elna's
relatives are(were) all good musicians and she was the one who got me into
singing. I used to sit in her lap when she played an old pump-organ and
sang Swedish folk-tunes of old and spirituals like Swing low sweet chariot..
-Under “LISTEN” there are soundclips of some songs.. When I play and sing I’m mostly into Blues, Gospel and Soul. Now I have begun to record and perform my own music. These songs, which I have been writing on every now and then since 1999, are of somewhat varied genres, but it’s mostly intense and sometimes laidback music played on acoustic instruments..!
-No
musician has meant so much to me as Eric
Bibb. His music and lyrics has a strong influence on everything I do!!
Without him I would not play and write music the way I do today… He’s
got a wonderful soul in his songs. You MUST listen to mr Bibb if you
haven’t already heard him!!
-When
I was 4,5 years old, another interest came into my life which has followed
me ever since: I
got my first motorized vehicle, my very own moped!! A small
one which my father
built from two mopeds were from the 1950’s. I drove it around every day,
all day long! Since then there has been mopeds, motorcycles and between 40-50
cars in my life! For many years I was in the board(management) for
JVBK – the vintage car club of Jämtland.
-Until
a few years ago the music and the interest in vintage cars went side by
side but then I had to choose path and the music won!! I sold most of what
was left of all mopeds and cars. It has turned out to be the right choice!
It feels very interesting right now with the music and everything is very
inspiring for the future.
-A
highlight in my career so far is my participation in the Swedish National
Television show called
Go'Kväll in front of nearly one million people!! Together with
the band Heart and Soul I played my own tune "I miss You"
which is a song about desire, and the love for someone you've lost…
-One other thing that's really amazing and cool is that this month alone, my site have been visited more than 4000 times by unique visitors... I'm blown away! THANKS everyone who finds me and my music interesting!! There's more stuff to come soon so keep checking back, people!!!! Awesome!!
-I'm so proud to announce that I've been awarded with a honourable prize here at the Östersund Blues Festival, in swedish it's called: ÅRETS BLÅDÅRE.. Translates into something like: Blues Maniac of the year..!! LOL!!! More info here..!! And also the Wilhelm Peterson-Berger cutural scholarship award..!!!!
-Right now I look forward to 2008 and the gigs! Gonna be BIG fun!! Maybe we'll meet somewhere!!
-I
am a collector by nature! Now my big interest is OLD guitars but also
other stringed instruments. I
prefer acoustic guitars as I really LOVE the sound from an acoustic guitar
which is 50-150 years old! My oldest playable guitar is from
about 1840..!!
A bunch of blues tools...
"ABOUT ME" Tells my story. The blue link (GAMLA gitarrer) leads to pictures of some of my guitars.
"LATEST NEWS" News, check out the latest..!!
"PHOTOS" Pictures of just about everything, cars, guitars, friends etc.. Resonator guitars.
"MUSIC" Music, a presentation of my bands.
"GIGS-VENUE" My GIG list, with the date and place.
"LISTEN" Here you can listen to my music in Mp3 format, just click on the song´s name!
"REVIEWS" Here you can read what people has to say about me and my music! Reviews, etc.
"GUESTBOOK" My guestbook! I´ll be very pleased if You write something in it!!
"CONTACT" If You´d like to write or call me, here´s my email and phone number.
Want to swap links? Email me yours and put mine on your web site!! LINKS!
Bottleneck John - My alter ego: Read an interview in English here!
I´ve been playing blues for a long time with different bands. It all began electric, kind of a blues-rock with lots of screaming guitars..
With age came the love for softer pure acoustic music. Acoustic blues won my heart!!
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 the midst of Scandinavia.
The heart in the music is the geuine sound of old National resonator guitars, when performing, me and my band also play piano, washboard, harmonica, double-bass, mandolin, kazoo and other typical instruments of the golden era!
Why this
name?
It´s a cool old-timey name that tells what I´m all about!! Blues/spirituals from the
20´s and 30´s played with a bottleneck on my resonatorguitars..!! My real name is Johan Eliasson.. Not much blues in that name!
Do you play
live?
Oh yes!! That´s my life.. I LOVE IT!! Anywhere where there´s a need for real old blues..
I´ll be there!! Lately it´s been a constant travelling around to do gigs, solo and in
bands. A highlight so far is me playing in front of nearly one million people in Swedish
national television!! That was something extraordinary.. But when and where
ever I'm on stage I feel right at home!
The past few years has taken BJ on tour to various stages/venues throughout Europe and USA, among others:
-Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival, Helena, USA 2006
-Blues au Chateau, La Chèze, France 2007
-Swing Blues Festival, Wespelaar, Belgium 2007
-Nidaros Blues Festival, Trondheim, Norway 2007, 2005, 2003
-Copenhagen Blues Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark 2006
-Dundee Blues Bonanza, Dundee, Scotland 2005, 2006
-Åmål Blues Festival, Åmål, 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
-Amistar Guitars, Frankfurt Musik Messe, 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
-Tartu ResoFest, Tartu, Estonia 2005
-Resophonic Guitar Festival, Pilzen, Czech Rep. 2005, 2006
-Street Blues, Memphis, Tennesee, USA 2006
-Isle of Capri Casino, Lula, Mississippi, USA 2006
- Skalica Cultural Centre, Slovakia 2005
-Imperial Hotel Blues, Karlovy Vary, Czech Rep. 2005
Imperial Hotel in Karlovy Vary, Czech Rep. AMAZING place to have a gig at..!!!!!
Several programs on Swedish national television SVT, as well as local TV shows. Norwegian national television and radio, NRK. BJ’s music is reguarly featured on radio shows and blues programs all over the world, France, Italy, Finland, Holland, Germany, USA, the UK, Australia, Mexico, Argentina and South-Africa to name a few..
Articles and reviews in blues magazines like: Blues Matters-UK. Blues in Britain-UK. Blues News-Finland. Twoj Blues-Poland. Blues & Co-France. Blues News-Norway. Blues Art-Austria. Concerto Magazine-Austria. Radio interviews/Pod-casts in Holland, USA, Australia etc..
How, do you
think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?
I hope it will somehow make it easier for smaller unsigned artists to be avaliable for a
BIG audience! You see, here you can listen to my music, if not for the
internet, would you guys know of me at all..?! It's a wonderful tool..
Would you still
sign a record contract with a major label?
Absolutely... And it will happen..!!
Band History:
Been playin´ the blues for a long time.. I have also the Singer/songwriter
side of my music, I play mostly blues and spirituals, but sometimes when I
write the songs comes out in different genres.. You know, I start writing
and I don't know what the song will be like, it's exciting to see it take
form on a blank paper..
Nowadays I mostly
keep out of the fixed band format, it´s easier to be on your own and if the gig requires, I put
a band together. Got some bands going however, check us out!!!
Got lots of good friends, great musicians!
Your
influences?
The old bluesmen from the Delta.. And some contemporary blues people!!
Among others, Son House, Eric Bibb(my hero), Taj Mahal, Tampa Red, Blind Willie Johnson, Corey Harris.
It's a LONG list...
Favorite
spot?
Being out in the wilderness around my hometown called "LIT" A small village with
a delta! Lots of tiny rivers makes a true delta! Anywhere on a stage in
front of people, it makes me feel good to know that my music can actually
touch peoples hearts and minds.. Wonderful feeling..!!
Equipment
used:
I love my resonator guitars!! For example: National Duolian 1933, Amistar
Crossroads Singlecone and
Style 1 "Vintage" Tricone!!
I´ve got a whole lot of old and interesting guitars! My oldest playable is dating from
1840/50!! They got lives of their own.. And lots of other acoustic
intruments..
Sweden´s cold during the winter!! But a resonator guitar works in any weather!!
A recent, very nice review:
" I think Im going to burn my guitar and never sing again.The moment this guy starts singing......you KNOW you are listening to an ancient, weathered black man from the southern US, who has endured all the hardships that life could possibly offer. The toils, trouble and inhumanities have burned an imprint into a hardened soul. Great. Then you check out his page and find out that hes a thirty something as white as you can get guy from Sweden.
This music is nothing short of incredible for the genre. Either this gentleman has been possessed by the spirit of a roaming Delta Jook-Joint long dead madman, or hes just plain genius.
Im pretty sure its the latter.
The depth of soul in this man's voice is at the least stirring, and at the most.....entirely captivating. To top it all off......his traditional bottleneck accompaniment on vintage pre-war resonator tricones and duolians are so perfect for the genre that if we added some phono hissing and record scratches......we wouldn't know that we weren't listening to a lost blues legend.
I don't say any of this lightly.
Wow.
If you like the Blues, and particularly the Delta (country) Blues, I can almost guarantee that you will hang on to this guy's MP3's.
Absolutely amazing, John. Amazing.
"
Frank the wonder budgie
reviews..
And this comment makes me proud and VERY happy!!
" It's as if Son House's voice has come alive again. Deeply moving! "... Don Hooper, Unplugged Records, USA
*
