So what do you get when you mix some Mississippi Delta blues, with the second line beat of New Orleans, and a heavy dose of Son House? You get John Mooney, that’s what. Mooney’s been on the blues festival scene for a lot of years now and has established his own distinct voice and guitar style that makes him stick out among the rest. I came across a few great performances from John, and some of his friends. The idea for this post started out with one video in particular, a stirring solo acoustic rendition of “Please Don’t Go,” at KDHX in St. Louis, Missouri. Then I continued my search to eventually find two electric performances, one from 2008 featuring a performance of “Country Boy Down In New Orleans,” and another from the Amal Blues Festival in Sweden 2012 featuring his trio Bluesiana. All three offer some killer guitar playing and Mooney’s distinct voice. I hope you enjoy all the videos as much as I did!
Here’s the video that prompted the entire post. John Mooney’s stirring solo acoustic rendition of “Please Don’t Go” live at KDHX in St. Louis, Missouri http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUMMq7ldMlg.
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The next couple of videos seemed to have some audio problems; either the guitar was too low and the voice too high, or the opposite. Regardless, you can still hear all the great stuff John was playing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0JFbuElYPU.
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The last video I found to share with you features John Mooney and his trio Bluesiana. This was shot last year in 2012, so it’s probably the sound he’s going with on tour now. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brcZ6CDpR5Q.
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I hope you dug watching all these video performances from John Mooney. I wouldn’t mind catching his show on the road, and hopefully you feel the same. There’s more coming your way at Blues Guitar Unleashed, so stay tuned.
Thanks,
Griff
6 replies to "New Orleans Country Blues Guitarist John Mooney"
John Mooney lived in Rochester, NY, where I live, until he was 15. Check out “Dealing with the Devil.” It’s a solo live album of John’s and he plays a whole slew of standard blues and I believe some original material. “Baby Please Don’t Go” is on this album. It’s great!!
He’s got a good style of playing the guitar and he sings very well too. Thanks Griff, please give us some more good artists!
Awesome material! Would love to see him on tour. So here is a youtube video of some of the incredibly talented young musicians in my home area that I have the privilege to see and hear at my favorite venue. Hope you enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ued09Ol7d_0
Nice videos Griff
Great old style, loved it. what is that guitar he uses?
thanks Griff
AWESOME..!!! Want more, NOW..!!! Yeah..!!