Shades of Blues
Campbelljohn, Malenfant to perform at the Marigold
Though he grew up in Cape Breton with Celtic music, John Campbelljohn found his inspiration in the music that influenced rock stars of the day – American blues.
Growing up in Cape Breton, musician John Campbelljohn took the region’s love for Celtic music for granted.
Instead, he enamored with the rock stars of the day and found inspiration in the music that influenced them — American blues.
“I remember going to a high school dance when I was a teen, and I heard this kind of shuffle groove playing,” said Campbelljohn.
“I had no idea what it was or what it meant, I just knew it moved me. I later found out it was an Allman Brothers song called ‘ Statesboro Blues,’ and learned they were influenced by blues musicians dating back to the 1920s.”
From there, he found himself knee deep in the world of the blues, studying the music, sound, artists and evolution of the genre.
Campbelljohn has since become a virtuoso of the genre, and will be bringing his blend of rock and traditional blues to the Marigold Cultural Centre on Friday, April 13. He will share the stage with New Brunswick musician eresa Malenfant, who will be performing a handful of her blues tunes before the two come together for an energetic nale at the end of the night.
“ eresa and I are both blues artists so we are on pretty common grounds, but we each have our own styles,” said Campbelljohn on the performance.
“She is the queen bee. She’s got a powerful voice like no other and her guitarist Scott Medford is a brilliant guitarist, so we are definitely looking forward to it.”
While the two are both blues musicians, their sounds and style differ, o ering something unique from each act to the audience, such as Malenfant’s powerful, Janis Joplin-like voice or Campbelljohn’s technical and slide guitar playing.
After Friday’s performance, Campbelljohn will be heading into festival season, which will keep him and drummer Neil Robertson busy for most of the sum-
mer before they head to Germany for a European tour in the fall.
The duo is also working on Campbelljohn’s next record, which is under the working title ‘Two’ and will feature a unique sound the pair have been developing over the years.
“Neil and myself have been doing a lot of shows together lately, just the two of us,” said Campbelljohn.
“I play fingerstyle guitar as well as slide and blues guitar and tend to mix both lead and rhythm together, which creates a full band sound when we perform. e new record will be based on that sound, and we’ve been doing it for a few years now.
“It’s a barrel of fun and I’m having a hoot with it.”