Some musicians keep set lists on sheets of paper slayed out at their feet. Some are a little more high-tech, choosing to scroll through an iPad or a monitor to see what songs are up next. But not Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson. He just eyeballs the faces in the audience to get his next groove.
“I never know what I’m going to play [before a show],” Johnson said. “I just play to them. I look at their faces and I see what my audience wants and we do it, honey.”
While the very notion of “wingin’ it” in this manner may send waves of nausea through other musicians, Johnson just laughs deep and sweet at the idea that this might be a scary way to go about things. Whether it’s the Barnful of Blues Festival he will be headlining in New Boston this weekend or playing with legends like Muddy Waters as he did for years, for Johnson, playing the blues has always just been about seeing how the people feel and giving them what they want.
“I just watch them,” he said. “I see what gets them going, gets them dancing and I just keep doing that.”
Blues has been a feeling for him since he was a kid. Born in Itta Bena, Miss., in 1939, Johnson and his family moved to Chicago in the mid-1950s.
“I started when we moved to Chicago and everyone there was playing the blues,” he said. “And all I wanted to do was play the blues. Mmm hmm. I told my mother, ‘If you get me a guitar, someday I’ll play with Muddy Waters.’ She said, ‘You’ll never play with Muddy Waters.’ ”
He got the guitar.
Then, he went on to tour the world with Muddy Waters for eight years. Since the early 1980s, he’s been on his own, fronting The Magic Rockers. Known for his Chicago-style blues, he also managed to snag a Grammy for best traditional blues album in 1985.
“I’ve been all over the universe, I’ve played everywhere and played for all kinds of people,” he said. “Everywhere I go, people love me.”
Audrey Fraizer, president of the Granite State Blues Society, which hosts the event each year, said that in addition to Johnson, the festival will be populated with all local acts this year.
“We’re kind of getting back to how the festival originated and this year we have all local bands,” Fraizer said. “The national known bands are very expensive. . . . We wanted to get back to being able to give the Webster House more. And the local bands are more willing to negotiate their prices.”
All profits from the event will go to the Webster House of Manchester, which is a private, nonprofit organization that provides safe haven for children unable to live at home.
Also playing this weekend is Mr. Nick and the Dirty Tricks, The Installers with the House Wrecking Horns, Mama Love and the Motivators, Downtown Dave and the Deep Pockets, Roxanne and the Voodoo Rockers, Delante Pickering and Veronica Lewis.
Kendal Bush, a.k.a. Mama Love, said she loves that the festival organizers are making a switch to using local talent at the daylong event.
“I think a lot of times the New Hampshire blues scene stands in the shadow of Boston,” Bush said. “And I don’t think that’s fair. We have so much talent right here in New Hampshire. And I don’t think people necessarily realize they don’t have to drive all the way to Boston to get good blues music.”
Bush said she thought the festival would be a great opportunity for audiences to get a taste of the local blues music scene.
The Barnful of Blues Festival is a family-oriented music event Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. The festival will be held at 15 Hill Dale Lane in New Boston. The event is rain or shine, although if rain threatens, the event will move inside the large barn on site. Fraizer encourages festival goers to bring chairs, blankets, coolers, sunblock and bug spray to the event. There will be some craft and food vendors on site as well. Glass, grills, hibachis and pets are prohibited.
Tickets are $25 at the gate; children younger than 12 are admitted free. Donate a non-perishable food item at the gate and get a free $1 raffle ticket. For more information, visit granitestateblues.org.
Also slated for this weekend, Thursday through Sunday, is the Pemi Valley Bluegrass Festival in Thornton.
Single day tickets range in price from $25 to $60. Multiple-day tickets range from $90 to $120. Children 13 and younger are admitted free.
Bands at the festival this year include Rhonda Vincent & The Rage; Seldom Scene; The Gibson Brothers; Blue Highway; Helen Highwater Stringband featuring Shad Cobb, Mike Compton, David Grier and Missy Raines; Chris Jones & The Night Drivers; Lonely Heartstring Band; Gold Heart; Zink & Company; Beartracks; Bluegrass Gospel Project; NewFound Grass; Parker Hill Road Band and Robinson Gospel Jam.
Camping is available for the weekend as well. For more information, visit pemivalleybluegrass.com.