Legendary Texas Guitarist Makes Highly Anticipated Return To Ottawa
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10 at 8:00 p.m.
CAPITAL MUSIC HALL
Ottawa, ON –Since his first appearance on the pages of Rolling Stone in 1968, Johnny Winter has epitomized the fiery and flamboyant rock and roll guitar hero. The multi Grammy-nominated guitarist will be joined by Canada’s own guitar slinger David Gogo, for a highly anticipated performance at Capital Music Hall (200 Rideau St.) on Saturday, December 10th at 8:00 Pm.
An American musical legend, Johnny Winter’s storied career began when he was just fourteen years old. He and his keyboard-wizard brother Edgar Winter formed Johnny and the Jammers in their hometown of Beaumont, TX. With their supercharged blues-rock, Johnny and The Jammers became a regional phenomenon throughout Texas. As word about the young guitarist spread, his heros, Muddy Waters and B.B. King started inviting Winter to join them on stage when they were passing through town.
In early 1968, Johnny formed a trio with Tommy Shannon on bass (who would go on to perform with Stevie Ray Vaughan) and Uncle John Turner on drums. Failing to achieve early success nationwide with the band, Winter packed up and headed to the UK. “I had gone over to England” he recalls, “and I had the idea of moving the whole band there. When I came back, an article had come out about me in Rolling Stone, and every major label was phoning.” Johnny soon signed the much publicized “million dollar” deal, the most lucrative contract ever issued at the time, with Columbia Records. Winter went on to release four classic albums, including the essential hard rock landmark, Johnny Winter And Live, his best ever selling album. His mainstream success lead Johnny to reunite with blues great, Muddy Waters and he helped revive Muddy’s own career with a string of Grammy Award winning albums including the comeback album Hard Again, I’m Ready and Muddy “Mississippi” Waters Live in 1979.
One of the most influential guitarist of our time, Johnny Winter carries on the Texas tradition of a long line of guitarist from T-Bone Walker to Freddy King. He brought a raw, contemporary edge to the blues with his powerful guitar playing and raspy vocals on hits like Rock and Roll Hoochie Coo, Still Alive and Well and his sizzling interpretation of Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisted. Winter went on to influence many young guitarist including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Nanaimo, BC native, David Gogo.
“When I first heard Johnny Winter’s version of Highway 61 Revisted it just floored me and was a major influence on my playing style, especially on slide guitar” states David Gogo. The Juno-nominated guitarist still plays a version of the song in his live sets and it’s always a crowd stopper. Gogo had the pleasure of performing with and meeting his hero, Winter, for the first time at a sold out show they did together last year in Toronto. “He sat back stage during our set and after the show asked his manager to bring me back stage to meet him, which was a real honour. Johnny congratulated me on my set and said he hoped we’d get the chance to play together again sometime and now we do!”
Gogo, the Maple Blues Guitarist of The Year two of the past three years, is excited about reuniting with Winter, especially in Ottawa where he follows up his outstanding performance with ZZ Top at this years Ottawa Bluesfest. Another highlight for David this summer was his show with B.B. King at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto to celebrate B.B.’s 80th Birthday. Not only did Gogo have the chance to perform with the “King of The Blues”, he also had the distinct pleasure of hanging out with King at his hotel suite for an hour of life changing conversation the next morning.
Don’t miss the chance to see the one and only Johnny Winter in action with Canada’s young gun of the blues, David Gogo, for a night of hard-hitting rock ‘n’ roll.
For more info on Johnny Winter – http://www.johnnywinter.net
For Information on David Gogo – http://www.davidgogo.com
Tickets Selling Fast!!
Tickets $ 36.50 Advance. Tickets available at all Ticketmaster outlets, charge by phone at 613-755-1111, on line at http://www.ticketmaster.ca, both Compact Music locations (233-8922) and Record Runner (241-3987)