Audio/Video
It’s great to have friends and playing partners who pull you into the studio for adventures in recording. Check out the tunes below to get a sense of some of the projects I’ve worked on over the years If you like what you hear please zip over to the website shown and purchase the whole CD!
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I had the pleasure of gigging around Chicago, around the country and around the world with my good friend, James Fraher. We played together as a blues duo for a number of years under the name Rollin’ & Tumblin’ –here are some tracks we recorded in 2000, accompanied on many by the great Jimmy Lee Robinson on guitar (and spurs). If you would like to purchase a copy of the CD please shoot me an email.
Lake Michigan BluesAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Jim put together this arrangement of an old Yank Rachell tune. (James Fraher, guitar & vocals; John Jochem, harmonica) Love Will Kill YouAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. This is an original tune of mine–just one of those slow laments about heartache. (John Jochem, vocals & harmonica; James Fraher, guitar, Jimmy Lee Robinson, guitar) Johnnie Mae BluesAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Jim wrote this lovely tune about our good friend, Johnnie Mae Dunson. It’s especially wonderful that Jimmy Lee was with us for this recording–he and Johnnie Mae were very close. (James Fraher, guitar & vocals; Jimmy Lee Robinson, guitar; John Jochem, harmonica) Trouble in MindAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. This harmonica instrumental is meant as a tribute to the great Big Walter Horton–the arrangement is based upon Walter’s version of this 8-bar blues classic. (John Jochem, harmonica; James Fraher, guitar) |
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Johnnie Mae Dunson was a true matriarch of the Chicago blues and I was fortunate to gig with her regularly, usually accompanied by her son, the great Jimi “Prime Time” Smith on guitar. She’d done so many things in the blues: played as Jimmy Reed’s drummer, owned a bar, wrote dozens of songs. I got the call to play all of her Chicago Blues Fest gigs, watching her from onstage, I could never figure out how she could put the whole crowd into a hypnotic trance–don’t look too deeply into her eyes in the accompanying CD cover shot or it’ll happen to you, too. Full CD available for purchase at www.bogfire.com.
EvilAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. (Johnnie Mae Dunson, vocals; Jimi “Prime Time” Smith, guitar; John Jochem, harmonica) I’m A Whole Lotta WomanAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. (Johnnie Mae Dunson, vocals; Jimmy Lee Robinson, guitar; John Jochem, harmonica) Gamblin’ WomanAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. (Johnnie Mae Dunson, vocals; Jimmy Lee Robinson, guitar; John Jochem, harmonica) |
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This is a 2011 recording project by my good friend and longtime musical partner, James Fraher. Jim now lives in County Sligo, Ireland and a number of the cuts on the CD show the Irish influence. Here we’re accompanied by a man who is surely one of the most capable blues guitarists on the planet: Billy Flynn. Zip over to Jim’s website (www.bogfire.com) to purchase the CD!
Lonely TravelerAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. This is really an autobiographical tune: our friend, the great Jimmy Lee Robinson, wrote this song in reference to himself. Jimmy Lee’s cab was famously emblazoned on the side in bold paint announcing him as “The Lonely Traveler”. (James Fraher, guitar & vocals; Billy Flynn, guitar, John Jochem, harmonica) Me and My DogAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. This is Jim’s arrangement of a Big Boy Henry tune by a similar name. (James Fraher, guitar & vocals; Billy Flynn, guitar; John Jochem, harmonica) I Had A DreamAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. (James Fraher, guitar & vocals; Billy Flynn, mandolin; John Jochem, harmonica) |
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Donna Herula is a master slide guitar player and I had the pleasure of gigging with her regularly throughout 2010, the same year we represented Chicago in the International Blues Challenge. This CD is a great recording of Donna’s talents, a tribute to Robert Nighthawk. Be sure to visit Donna’s site at www.donnaherula.com, where both of her CD’s are available for purchase.Take It Easy BabyAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. (Donna Herula, guitar & vocals; Tony Nardiello, guitar; John Jochem, harmonica) I’m Getting TiredAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. (Donna Herula, guitar & vocals; Tony Nardiello, guitar; John Jochem, harmonica) Maggie CampbellAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. (Donna Herula, guitar & vocals; John Jochem, harmonica) |
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Due to circumstances too weird for the web, I befriended a band in Northern Italy/Southern Switzerland. For a span of about six or seven years I snuck over to gig with them as often as possible and we toured throughout the Ticino region of Switerland as well as the northern lakes area of Italy. Tough gig but when called upon to be the ambassador of the blues in the area around Como, Italy, you just can’t say no. They’re terrific musicians and wonderful friends, with a penchant for telling jokes that do not translate well into English. This is a live 2005 recording from a concert in Carona, Switzerland, a lovely village in the hills above Lake Lugano. Visit their site at www.theacusticomband.com to purchase the two-CD set.
Before You Accuse MeAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. (Luca Clemenz, guitar & vocals; Gianni Cipoletti, guitar & vocals; Gabriele Cipoletti, guitar & vocals; Ugo Binda, guitar & vocals; Kikko Caniato, bass; Tony Rotta, drums; John Jochem, harmonica). CaledoniaAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. (Gianni Cipoletti, guitar & vocals; Gabriele Cipoletti, guitar & vocals; Ugo Binda, guitar & vocals; Luca Clemenz, guitar & vocals; Kikko Caniato, bass; Tony Rotta, drums; John Jochem, harmonica). Sweet Home ChicagoAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. (Gianni Cipoletti, guitar & vocals; Gabriele Cipoletti, guitar & vocals; Ugo Binda, guitar & vocals; Luca Clemenz, guitar & vocals; Kikko Caniato, bass; Tony Rotta, drums; John Jochem, harmonica). |
 Playing live on King Biscuit Time with "Sunshine" Sonny Payne. Donna Herula guitar/vocal, John Jochem, harp. |
I couldn’t resist including this audio clip. This is a live recording of Donna and I when we appeared on the King Biscuit Time show, on radio station KFFA, Helena, AR. What an honor to be on the air with the legendary “Sunshine” Sonny Payne, whose historic role in popularizing the blues has been well documented. Sonny was gracious, very warm and supportive of our music–it was a terrific experience. Hope you enjoy this segment of the show.
Live on King Biscuit Time, Radio Station KFFA, Helena, AR, February 4, 2011Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. (Donna Herula, guitar & vocals; John Jochem, harmonica) |