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Press/Promo:
It happened again! This time Johnny O.’s solo set won first place in the Colorado Blues Society’s IBC competition. You may recall a few years ago the Johnny O. Band won this same competition in the band category. This means the Colorado Blues Society will be sending Johnny to the 28th International Blues Challenge in Memphis and for the first time Johnny O. will be performing on Beale Street as a solo.
Johnny also competed at the IBC in 2010 with his duo the Jelly Roll Bakers. So this makes the third time he’s made it to the IBC.
~“ this IBC competition is a huge event. There are over a hundred acts from all over the world all converging on Memphis with the goal of walking away with first place. I’ve learned a lot on my first few trips down there. I’m really looking forward to giving it my best.” ~ J.O.
28th International Blues Challenge will be held the first weekend in February.
The summer of 2011 was a busy one for the band. A few of the highlights from the summer came from the same weekend. On Friday aug.13th we played Wesfest in Steamboat and the following day we performed at a very worthwhile event up in the Roaring Fork Valley, the Team Fox fund raiser for Parkinson’s.
We have some new videos that we’d like to share with you . The band is making an effort to collect as much good video footage as possible from live shows to give people a more clear idea of what you can expext at a Johnny O. Band show.
First there are there two from Wesfest, a beautiful mountain festival that we had the honor of headlining this summer.
~”Full moon and the spirit was in the air, Wesfest was one great highlight of the summer. I think you can feel the energy in these video clips””~J.O.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uspw2kjSDLQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0mUqOvAXIA
Then we have a clip for a show we performed at the Opera House in Longmont. This is a really nice room and we have more shows coming up there soon so check the schedule.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zh47endiic
And this last one was a little experiment with a tune J.O. wrote years ago. Just havin’ a little fun with video editing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7NAziRqbdo
The Johnny O. Band was just featured in an article in the Boulder Magazine. This was a nice feature article that you can read here.
http://www.getboulder.com/profiles-fall-2011/in-love-with-the-blues
"Johnny O has that versatility in a guitar player that makes you wonder how someone can have such a natural feel for so many styles. He can rock your socks off and he can lullaby you ! Take your pick"
~John Catt- Promoter..Blues from the Top
"I have followed The Johnny O. Band for years and they always deliver an engaging, passionate, and energetic show with a variety of styles and a lot of original material."
~ Jim Primock- Past President, Colorado Blues Society
Johnny O. is working on his first solo acoustic blues album. Johnny has been polishing out his solo show nicely with new originals and a funky finger style that set him apart at the IBC competition. This project will give the listener a good taste of what Johnny O. brings to his solo shows.
The Johnny O. Band's original tune entitled “Crescent City People” is being featured on the web site Blues for the Gulf.org. This is a song that Johnny O. wrote just after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and was recorded at KBCO in Boulder during a Studio C performance. Blues for the Gulf is an organization lead by legionary blues man Bob Margolin and Boulders Honey Sepeda with the goal of using blues music to raise money for the Voice of the Wetlands. Go to this page, and scroll down to download the tune and please donate a small amount to this worthwhile cause. Music for the Gulf
The band is still gearing up for a new studio project. “We have been working out some new tunes and have been thinking about how to tackle the new CD.”-J.O. The busy summer schedule has left little time for working on recording but J.O. urges fans to be patient. “It’s been since 2005 that the band put out a CD, but we’re hittin’ some bad new grooves, the band is tighter than ever. This next CD will be worth the wait”
Johnny O. is still busy promoting his new acoustic CD named “A Volta” featuring 12 original compositions. This latest musical effort was released earlier this year and has been well received. “It’s a collection of instrumental music that draws its inspiration from the first few trips I took to Brazil.” ~ J.O. “A Volta” also features outstanding performances by Mark Diamond on the stand-up acoustic bass and Christian Teele on percussion.
Some of the music from “A Volta” has been featured in some short video’s J.O. put together to promote the CD. The music is accompanied by beautiful photo’s of Brazil and Mexico that John shot while traveling. The one entitled Springtime features photo’s of Cuba, shot by acclaimed photographer Todd Radunsky.
Follow the links below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSrbm3ONwgs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuV48b6WA1Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxQnSXoAHpQ
We’ll have some new pictures and other video up soon so be sure to check back.