Super Chikan

News

The Buzz
12.07 - MS Blues Proj
12.07 - Front Page
12.05 - Blues Blast
10.05 - Press Register
08.12 - Wall Street Journal
08.12 - BlueNight.com
08.09 - Boston Blues
08.06 - N.Y Times
06.06 - Reader
00.03 - No Depression
00.02 - All About Jazz

THE BUZZ
My alltime favorite is one we get often: Super Chikan. He puts on a party and that’s what you want in a juke joint.
Morgan Freeman

"James ‘Super Chikan’ Johnson is at his best delivering no-nonsense Delta shuffles punctuated by his distinctively crisp, angular leads and piercing tone… Searing lava-flow intensity one minute, back-road sparse eloquence the next."
David Whiteis, Living Blues

From the dirt-poor Mississippi delta, comes the cool and gritty blues of James "Super Chikan" Johnson, the legendary self-taught, country roots musician, performing real life and personal hard truths."
Phil Reser, Blueswax

"Clarksdale, Mississippi’s reigning bluesman is a better storyteller than songwriter, but he’s got plenty of entertainingly twisted spirit. And when he bites into a lick on one of his homemade guitars, like the weighty contraption he crafted from an industrial ceiling fan motor, he wails like Godzilla nipping on a high-tension wire. 40,000 volts of fun!"
The 10 Best New Roots Guitar CDs. Ted Drozdowski, Gibson.com

"As original as the Southern folk art he creates, "Super Chikan" today is the most authentic performer of real deal Delta blues. Growin’ up near Clarksdale juke joints such as Red’s or Margaret’s Blue Diamond Lounge, Chikan has internalized the deepest music that hangs in the air every day."
Art Tipaldi, Boston Blues

"He is one of the most original and inventive of artists playing today. …He can play the feathers off of guitars. He makes good use of the 'wah-wah' pedal and he is one of the most entertaining acts you will ever see, and one hell of a guitar player to boot. A definite must to see if he is anywhere near your yard, both for his originality of playing and his fun filled show."
Bob Gottlieb, Acoustic Music

"Johnson is a wicked guitarist, a fine gritty vocalist, a clever blues word smith, and this all shines through on his latest album "Sum' Mo' Chikan." On this CD, he runs through a set of blues that swing with easy toughness, a touch of funky guitar, some cool slide and always, always a sense of joy and enthusiasm that -- even though it contradicts the idea of "blues" -- keeps you scratchin' and peckin' for the real thing."
Jim White, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"All is right with the world once again. Super Chikan has blessed us with another wonderful recording of his unique vision of Mississippi Delta blues. His blues are done with a wink and a grin, and a good time is always guaranteed. He’s known worldwide as one of the most entertaining Blues performers."
Graham Clarke, Blues Bytes

"Of the many blues concerts we had the pleasure of witnessing this year, this was without doubt one of the best, and certainly the most energetic!"
Freddy Celis, Rootstime, Belgium

"One for all blues purists – as said previously, a simple blues album, nicely played by all concerned which I would imagine will ensure for a great night out or festival set if you were catching him and the band live!"
Grahame Rhoades, bluesinthenorthwest.com, United Kingdom

"From the beginning instrumental, an up-tempo shuffle called, "Freddy's Thang," Chikan delivers a disc of rollicking good blues full of his unique personality. And, I think that may be the one thing that separates this music from all the rest. Ain't nobody else on the blues scene who could pull off "pluckin' and cluckin'" so well."
Pat Jennings, Wichita Blues

"Chikan is a chronic blues party. Though his stylings are very rooted in the raw and traditional (think R.L. Burnside), he wows the crowd with the guitar antics (Jimi Hendrix) and the long-laced grooves will please any college kid jam bander looking for some deep blues (Grateful Dead)."
Ben Cox, Juke Joint Soul

"Sum ‘Mo’ Chikan is fun, frisky, sexy, danceable, and as loopy as you’d expect from a guy who plays instruments fashioned from discarded metal and who grew up chatting to poultry."
Hal Horowitz, Blues Revue