Son House, Taj Mahal, Lightin' Hopkins, Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Willie McTell, Lloyd Thayer, Blue Mother Tupelo, Doug Cox, Jimbo Mathus, Taylor Grocery Band, Dave MacKenzie, John-Alex Mason, Moreland & Arbuckle
Winner of the MCBS Bluesey Award for Best Other Instrumentalist of the Year. Also nominated for Acoustic Act of the Year, and Acoustic Alley Blues as Blues CD of the Year.
Downhome acoustic folk blues. LJK was born and raised in the Nashville, TN area. In the late '70's, solo artists were a dime a dozen in Nashville. So LJK packed up his powder blue Vega and moved to the Daytona Beach area of Florida, playing happy hours and opening for beach bands. Deciding that a steady paycheck would be a good way of life, he entered the radio scene and DJ'd morning drive times in Greenville, KY and Winchester, VA. Realizing that he liked Tennessee better than the nomadic life of radio, he landed back in Nashville.
Back in his hometown, he hooked up with a couple of bands, playing drums for The Colour Flag and Horse Of A Different Color. But it was the blues that was in him. Since that time, playing at The Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival (formerly the King Biscuit Festival), The Ground Zero Blues Club and the annual Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, MS, the Booze 'n' Blues Festival in Indianola, MS, along with King's Palace on Beale Street in Memphis, The Great Atlanta Blues & Music Festival, The Slippery Noodle Inn in Indianapolis and the Blues Stage at The Beanblossom Blues Festival in Beanblossom, IN, and sharing the stage with Americana artists The Mary Janes, Annie Mosher and Cheley Tackett, blues artists Blue Mother Tupelo, Jimbo Mathus, Wichita's Moreland & Arbuckle, Patio Daddio of Delicious Blues Stew, Indianapolis based The D-Moans, The Blues Attic Ramblers and "The Southpaw from Arkansas", guitarist Michael Holloway, LJK is quickly making a name for himself in the Southeast blues scene.
Bring Me A Little Water, LJK’s 3rd release on ANJ Records, combines original LJK tunes along with classic folk-blues selections and numbers from Lloyd Thayer, Jimbo Mathus and the team of Aaron Moreland & Dustin Arbuckle. Nine of the tunes were recorded at the award winning Little Hollywood Studio in Nashville, TN, engineered and produced by Danny Lee Ramsey, also featuring harmony vocals of Annie Mosher on one selection. The remaining six tunes were recorded at the Juke-Tonk Studio in Hendersonville, TN, engineered and produced by Ricky Davis. In these six selections, LJK was backed by perennial favorites Blue Mother Tupelo. With a mixture of the likes of down and dirty cigar box guitar blues (“Joe’s Blues”) to the folk tinged “Sylvie”, there seems to be something for all tastes of American roots music.
All in all, we think you'll enjoy this downhome acoustic folk blues artist.
www.littlejohnnykantreed.com
May peace and happiness fill your cup May the sun find you smiling when it comes up May you never face hard times all alone May the road be smooth you’re traveling on
Howdy Johnny ....thanks for the kind words ...I was playin' around and made some blues necklaces ...got my daughter to model them for me. take care, dan
Yea we had fun and enjoyed seeing you. We left about 7 cuz it started to rain pretty hard. And for sure give us a holler when you get back in the delta !! Tommy & Elizabeth
Johnny, You rock my world. On certain days your music is THE perfect music. Looks like you're on a steady rise to the top of the blues world. Keep up the good work! Jer
