Blues Traveler
Decades ago, Johnny Burgin gave his life to the road. His former creative writing teacher Scott Gould pens a soulful ballad about his wayfaring student
By scott gould
verse one
Spring, 1988. A tall, lanky, dark-haired kid sits in the back of my creative writing class in Greenville, South Carolina. Johnny Burgin is a really fine writer, but honestly, he’s more interested in his guitar than he is poetry or fiction. All he talks about are his guitar lessons and how he’s picking up the blues and how much he loves to play. He tells me he’s been accepted to the University of Chicago. I warn him to bring a heavy coat. He says he’s taking his guitar with him. I figure I’ll never see Johnny Burgin again, because when you’re a teacher, that’s what happens with students. They flash briefly across your life, then disappear. Oh, you might bump into one or two here or there, at the gas pumps or in a restaurant, but most of them evaporate like busy ghosts.
I figured Johnny would go the route of evaporation. But you know how social media works, right? For all its evil intent—and content—it sometimes bestows unexpected gifts. Several years ago, out of the abyss of the ether, social media gave me a snippet of news about a guitar slinger who was burning up the Chicago blues scene . . . Rockin’ Johnny Burgin. (Actually, that’s a lie. When I go down the rabbit hole of the Internet, I find out that Rockin’ Johnny Burgin has, by that time, matured into simply Johnny Burgin—experienced, road-savvy bluesman. He’s gone from a young gun sideman, most notably in the band of blues legend Tail Dragger Jones, to steady gigs with traditional Chicago blues vets to a weekly blues residency at The Smoke Daddy in downtown Chicago, all the while earning a degree in English from the U of Chicago. He’s signed a recording contract with the renowned blues and jazz label Delmark Records. He’s served his apprenticeship at the feet of some Chicago masters, honed his musical craft, and now he is making his own records, plotting his own journey across the blues landscapes.)
From Chicago to Europe and Asia, Johnny sings the blues far and wide, accompanied by his Gibson SG.
VERSE TWO
It’s been more than three decades since I’ve laid eyes on Johnny Burgin. The quiet kid from my creative writing class is a bluesman now, and to play blues, there are dues to be paid. And those dues are usually collected somewhere out there, on the road. To call him a road warrior is a lazy understatement, because Johnny B. is always out there, crisscrossing the country (and Europe and Asia—yes, Chicago blues are big across the water) with his Gibson SG by his side, playing some 200 nights a year in the network of blues venues scattered around the world. Take a glance at his tour schedule. Here’s a sample, from January to June: Ventura, California, on a Wednesday. Three days later, New Orleans. Then a stint zig-zagging between the Carolinas, followed by a few dates in Georgia. Then off to Spain for ten days before hitting Finland, the UK, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, and France. Back to the States—Maryland, Virginia, and a swing through Chicago. Dozens and dozens of dates, thousands of miles.
And we’re not talking chartered jets and catered meals in four-star hotel suites. Johnny is a musical DIYer. He handles his own bookings, lines up his accommodations, even writes his own press releases. When he travels across the U.S., he spins the odometer in his Toyota Sienna that’s topped the three-hundred-thousand-mile mark. Two thirds of the year, burning up the road, playing the blues. (Wait. Check that. There is a hiatus from the road, from the blues. From 2001–2009, Johnny Burgin takes some years off to raise his daughter. He steps away from music. He needs a steady gig and health insurance. But the blues won’t dare grant Johnny Burgin a complete release. They pull him back, once his daughter is older, and he makes a big move.) He leaves Chicago for California. In California, the creative floodgates open. He records a number of albums, including Johnny Burgin Live, which features blues icon Charlie Musselwhite and is a Blues Blast Best Live Recording Award nominee in 2019. The math is easy to see: He is spending more days on the road than he is at home.
CHORUS
Johnny Burgin says: “The two greatest things I ever did were go to Chicago and leave Chicago. Chicago is where I found my style. I made my trajectory. I’ve learned from really authentic, amazing musicians. But you gotta be a little reckless as an artist, so you don’t stagnate. So I went to California. There was a fertile blues scene in the Bay Area. I never want to stagnate.”
Johnny Burgin says: “I’m always playing with different people in different situations, you know, collaborating with different musicians. I feel like I can always keep the music fresh because I’m dealing with new situations, and that sharpens my skills. Long term, that’s been a great advantage for me.”
On a recent stop in his hectic schedule, Johnny returned to Upstate South Carolina to play a gig at Golden Grove Farm & Brew in Piedmont.
VERSE THREE
Johnny Burgin calls me from the road because I have a question for him. I want to know why he does it. Why does he spend all those nights wringing the neck on his Gibson, then sliding the speakers and the mike stand into the back of his Toyota and punching on the GPS for the next destination of the next gig? I have questions about artists and what fuels them. You see, I’ve always been envious of those folks, the artists who are driven by their passion, who don’t really spend time and energy worrying about where their momentum leads them, who trust that their passion will always land them in a better place. There’s no doubt Johnny is passionate about the blues. He’s dedicated his life to it. He could’ve taken his English degree and found a nice, monotonous nine-to-five niche, a gig with built-in stability. But he chose the blues. And interstates and airport terminals. Is it just part and parcel of being a bluesman, to put yourself on the road, unhoused more than half the year? Okay, maybe I have more than one question for Johnny B. I also want to know if he thinks he’s a better blues player than he was in his younger, guitar-slinger years. Do your blues get better the older you get, the more notches you have on your guitar strap? (With most avocations, the older you get, the more your skills and your energy diminish. Think: athletes and creative writing teachers. And yet it seems that in the World of the Blues, the more years you balance on your shoulders, the more you have to be blue about.)
CHORUS
Johnny Burgin says: “I really love the independence of being on the road. But you’re never really alone. There’s a lot of camaraderie and fellowship with other blues musicians. It’s not, like, purely business and ‘give me my money and I’m outta here.’ These musicians are my friends. And there’s a connection with the audience. Blues fans are loyal. When I came back after an eight-year hiatus, they remembered me.”
Johnny Burgin says: “The blues is a powerful form, and when you really put your soul into it, it means something to other people, you know? And that’s when it gets its hooks in you. It’s not just like an outfit I put on for the day or a theme party or something. Playing the blues is not just something I did to be cool. If I didn’t feel this way, I would get a job. There are a lot easier ways to pay your bills. The money is basically just like a byproduct.”
Johnny Burgin says: “Sure, it’s great to be a really solid technical musician, but you put more meaning into the music as you go through life, as you get worn in.”
BRIDGE
Johnny needs to find room in the Sienna to pack up all the recognition he’s receiving. In 2023, the Blues Foundation nominates him for a Blues Music Award in the Best Traditional Blues Artist category. The next year, he is a nominee in two Blues Blast Awards categories: Best Video and Best Traditional Blues Album. And the Big Blues Chart, a comprehensive charting of blues airplay on radio stations around the world, ranked Johnny’s album, Ramblin’ from Coast to Coast, as #6 for all of 2024.
FINAL VERSE
There’s something rare and wonderful about artists who create for the sheer love of it, whose passion buoys them throughout their journeys. They are the ones who, despite the inevitable ebbs and flows of life, continue to hone their craft, continue to follow the paths they cut through the world. They create because they cannot help it, because it is as natural as drawing breath. Johnny Burgin is one of those artists. All you have to do is talk to him, and you can hear it in his voice. He is head over heels with what he does. And it touches me somewhere deep inside my teacher-soul to realize that the quiet kid in the back of the class has evolved into an artist whose passion for the blues is on display more than 200 nights a year. Back in ’88, when he left the sticky humidity of South Carolina and landed in Chicago, guitar in hand, the blues swept him up. And never let him go.
For more on johnny and his tour schedule, visit johnnyburgin.com.
Photography by Paul Mehaffey; this story appears in our Spring 2025 issue.
