John-Alex Mason has Died

Sad news; John-Alex Mason has passed away at the age of 35.  I saw him play here in Colorado many times and he was always a great performer.  I chatted with him now and then at shows and he was always a great guy.  He will be missed.

Story from the Colorado Springs Gazette.

When I first saw John-Alex he was playing the solo blues gigs.

Later he would switch over to this Richard Johnston style of playing and it was great fun to see him play.

John-Alex Mason

   

Richard Johnston - Deep Blues Festival

A friend of mine has been lucky enough to see Richard Johnston many times on Beale St in Memphis and by all accounts he kicks some serious butt.
If you aren't familiar with him he usually is a solo performer playing guitar, singing and the drums via a special setup operated by just his feet. He also plays a cigar box guitar quite often. You can tell when he is playing the cigar box guitar because it is strung with a bass string to improve that over all groove thang in the performance. If you know what I mean, and I think you do.
This is a soundboard recording from: The Deep Blues Festival at Washington County Fairgrounds, Lake Elmo, MN on July 18th, 2008
If you like this style you should also check out John-Alex Mason I've been going to his shows in Colorado for a long time. He used to do just the acoustic blues but Johnston showed him how to set up the one-man-band deal and that's been his dominant style for a couple years now.

Get it  HERE

A documentary has been produced about Johnston

Visit Richard Johnston on the web!