John Campbelljohn
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | INDIE | AFM
Music
Press
"John Campbelljohn's standard of slide guitar playing is raised to a new record high."
‘Rolling Stone’, Germany
“John’s raw singing and his truly convincing guitar, particularly the slide passages, are a feast for the ears, have real class…”
‘Blues News Magazine,’ Germany
“Infectious blues coupled with East Coast charm are their key to success. You’re bound to feel it.”
‘Ottawa Sun’
“This Canadian masters his strings totally superb, particularly with the slide.”
‘Audio live’, Germany
“No Frills Loads Of Talent” (headline)
Halifax Daily News
“Guitar, Bass, Drums - played with lots of heat, power and drive - The John Campbelljohn Trio demanded multiple encores.”
‘Sueddeutsche Zeitung’, Germany
“Every song sounds different and makes the heart beat with the rhythm.”
‘Darmstaedter Echo, Germany’
“John Campbelljohn goes well beyond his reputation as a great slide player.”
‘Words & Music’, Toronto
“…fans of guitar-gods-in-the-making might want to check it out.”
‘Blues Revue’, USA
“Forget Mel Gibson, John Campbelljohn is the real road warrior.”
‘Blues Scene Quarterly’
"John Campbelljohn's Nerves Of Steel over joys us with a potent Blues-Anthologie ... quality and substance of equal worth."
record magazine ‘Tip’, Germany
“At the concert the acoustic songs shined with intense heart and guts, … not a single dull moment … the show ended with multiple encores.”
‘Home Of Rock’, Germany
“......an act we can proudly call Canadian......better than 95 percent of the hundreds of U.S. bands I’ve heard in 1998.”
‘Real Blues’
“It is difficult to find a good slide guitarist, who stands out from the crowd - one who manages to do so is Nova Scotian John Campbelljohn.”
Blues Bytes, USA
“....one of the top blues/rock acts in the country.”
‘Daily News, Halifax’
“As slide players go, it would be pretty difficult to come up with an equal to this Cape Breton native.”
‘RPM Weekly’, Toronto
“Their brand of tingly lyrics & progressive blues is so precise & focused it will send your feet a dancin’ in no time.”
‘Ottawa Express’
“....Cape Breton slide guitar wunderkind!”
‘Vue Mag’, Edmonton
¡°....Campbelljohn is as strong vocally as he is instrumentally, belting out the blues... It’s got muscle to it but there’s also a mellow quality like well-aged bourbon.¡±
‘The Guardian’, Charlottetown
“Dire Straits’ Sultans of Swing could have been written about John Campbelljohn...”
‘Chronicle Herald’, Halifax
“John Campbelljohn and his trio have a lot of fun with their music - a rich, satisfying mixture of blues, rock ’n’ roll and rock.”
Guitarre & Bass Magazine, Germany
- various
2007 Blues Record Of The Year
East Coast Music Awards
2007 Guitarist Of The Year – Nominee
Maple Blues Awards
2007 Electric Act Of The Year – Nominee
Maple Blues Awards
2004 Slide Guitarist Of The Year
Real Blues Awards
2003 Guitarist Of The Year – Nominee
Maple Blues Awards
2002 Blues Artist of the Year - Nominee
East Coast Music Awards
2001 Canadian Blues Slide Guitarist of the Year
Real Blues Awards
1999 Dutch Mason Award
MVP Award, Harvest Jazz & Blues
1999 Blues Artist of the Year
East Coast Music Awards
1999 Canadian Blues Slide Guitarist of the Year
Real Blues Awards
1999 Canadian Blues Debut Album of the Year
Real Blues Awards
1998 SOCAN Songwriter of the Year – Nominee
Maple Blues Awards
1998 Blues Guitarist of the Year – Nominee
Maple Blues Awards
1994 Male Artist of the Year – Nominee
East Coast Music Awards
1994 Album of the Year – Nominee
East Coast Music Awards
1992 Unsigned Artist of the Year
East Coast Music Awards
- various
Maple Blues Awards Gala Toronto, ON
Ottawa Blues Festival Ottawa, ON
Burnaby Blues Festival Vancouver, BC
Montreal Jazz Festival Montreal, Quebec
Harbourfront Blues Festival Toronto, ON
Niagara Parks International Blues Festival Niagara Falls, ON
Mt Tremblant Blues Festival Tremblant, Quebec
Roermont Blues Festival Roermont, Netherlands
Antwerpen Blues Festival Antwerpen, Belgium
Luzern Blue Balls Festival Luzern, Switzerland
Fehmarn Open Air Festival, Jimi Hendrix 30th Anniversary Fehmarn, Germany
Folk Fest Waidhofen Waidhofen, Austria
Verona Jazz Fest Verona, Italy
Summer Nights 2000 Festival Novigrad, Croatia
Bluesfest Ingoldstadt Ingoldstadt, Germany
NaveBlues 2000 Festival San Felice, Italy
Vercelli Blues Festival Vercelli, Italy
Harvest Blues Festival Fredericton, NB
Festival By The Sea St. John, NB
House Of Blues Boston, USA
Lobster Festival Pictou, NS
Down Town Blues Club Hamburg, Germany
Meisenfrei Blues Club Bremen, Germany
Miles the Club Berlin, Germany
Blues & Beyond Frankfurt, Germany
Jazz Gallerie Bonn, Germany
Talking Blues Cologne, Germany
Stars Munich, Germany
Jazz Keller Krefeld, Germany
Kultur Scheune Salzgitter, Germany
Rockhouse Salzburg, Austria - various
Campbelljohn turns it up in Lunenburg
By STEPHEN PEDERSEN | At the Folk Fest
THE 23RD ANNUAL Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival got off
to a rusty start Thursday night in the Mainstage...
The rest of the show was John Campbelljohn’s. He’s a takeover kind of guy playing a takeover kind of blues, flashing out thunder and lightning from his dobro steel guitar with a wonderfully raucous and downright nasty chordal slide-slipping around on all sides of the
pitch.
It was a tonic and Campbelljohn left most of the dirt to his fabulously capable guitar, firmly anchored by his veteran bassist Andrew Lambert and long-haired drummer Neil Robertson who hammered out rhythms like he had a rivet-gun in each hand.
Campbelljohn’s voice is, for a bluesman, clear and with a touch of Cape Breton sweetness to mellow the sting in the black coffee.
He is given to shameless lyrics, like "You got a heart like a stone, baby. That’s why I take you for granite." Ouch. But that’s all part of the game for this fabulous entertainer, who conducts a blues whistle-along, and tosses in a strain of Smoke On The Water just to see if everybody is listening. They were. They came, they whistled, and they roared, and Campbelljohn conquered.
- Halifax Herald
Discography
"Good To Go" 2009 - ZYX / Pepper Cake / Koch
"Weight Of The World" 2007 Blues Recording Of The Year ECMA - ZYX / Pepper Cake / Koch
"Official Bootleg" 2007 - ZYX / Pepper Cake / Koch
"The World Is Crazy/Live In Germany" 2003 - ZYX / Pepper Cake / Koch
"Under The Blue Covers" 2002 - ZYX / Pepper Cake / Koch
"Nerves Of Steel" 2001 - ZYX / Pepper Cake / Koch
"Hook Slide & Sinker" Blues recording Of The Year ECMA 1999 - ZYX / Pepper Cake / Koch
"How Does It Feel?" 1993
Photos
Bio
John Campbelljohn has 8 releases under his belt and, as you’d expect, he’s learned a thing or two about doing it right. He’s got the awards to prove it. And, lest you think he might be weighed down under the burden of his many accomplishments as one of Canada’s most prominent blues artists, you couldn’t be further from the truth. Such honors as “Slide Guitarist of the Year” and “Blues Artist of the Year” aren’t taken lightly in a country revered for its blues practitioners. Plus, Campbelljohn would rather keep stretching his personal boundaries than ever use such honors as excuses to sit around on his laurels. To John, blues is hard work and his work ethic is as audible in his songwriting as it is in his music. Good To Go – his latest release with an exciting new label – promises to carry on a proud Maritime tradition of doing one’s best. It’s the perfect evolutionary statement from his last: ‘07’s “Blues Recording of the Year” – Weight of the World. This Canadian blues alchemist continues to break new ground, further reinvigorating his application of rock to blues with such innovations as the application of pedal steel guitar to the mix of 12 originals. The caliber of his songwriting – drawing attention from television and movie interests as well as his legion of fans – reflects his love of the craft and its overall importance to his body of work. Good to Go is a highly personal labor of love from one of the blues’ most passionate practitioners.
For the already initiated, Good to Go is the next important stage in Campbelljohn’s career. For those unfamiliar with his particular oeuvre, prepare yourself a your new favorite listening experience – and make sure you get Good To Go before it’s all gone.
– Eric Thom
For Video go to www.campbelljohn.com
For booking info go to www.campbelljohn.com (link below)
Available as solo or with band.
Links
