Big Jon Atkinson

Big Jon Atkinson is a keeper of the flame of mid-century electric blues, paying homage to the sounds of Chicago and the Delta. A native of Florida who was born in 1988, he grew up listening to old blues records in the '90s and 2000s, picking up the guitar as a teen. He left Florida for Las Vegas when he was 18, gigging with musicians who passed through the city. Soon, he added harp and bass to his repertoire, then relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he formed Big Jon & the Nationals. The band played regularly and cut some independent recordings -- Bluebeat put out Boogie with You Baby in 2014, an album also featuring Nathan James, Fred Kaplan, Marty Dodson, and Troy Sandow -- and then, in the mid-2010s, Atkinson moved to Southern California. By that time, Atkinson released House Party at Big Jon's, a duet album with Bob Corritore that helped introduce the guitarist to a larger audience. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine