PB musician wins blues award

The 2023 Sonny Payne Award of Blues Excellence was recently presented to Pine Bluff ’s Detroit Johnny Johnson.

Thomas Jacques, assistant director of the Delta Cultural Center and host of the King Biscuit Time radio program, presented the award to Johnson in conjunction with the 2023 King Biscuit Festival held in Helena-West Helena on Oct. 4-7.

The award recognizes individuals who influence and embody the aspects of the Delta blues, according to a news release.

The award’s name honors the longtime host of the Peabody Award-winning King Biscuit Time, Sonny Payne.

Born in 1944 in rural Columbia County, Johnson was already playing professionally as a bluesman in Robert Nighthawk’s band before he reached his teens. He would soon meet lifelong friend and fellow blues musician, CeDell Davis, who also performed in Nighthawk’s band.

With Nighthawk as his mentor, Johnson also met and played with numerous blues performers such as Sonny Boy Williamson, Hound Dog Taylor, Tampa Red, Houston Stackhouse, and James Peck, according to the release.

Johnson later lived and worked in Detroit earning him his stage name, Detroit Johnny, before returning to Arkansas and settling in Pine Bluff. A longtime veteran of the Pine Bluff blues scene, Johnson has a lengthy association with the Port City Blues Society.

He has appeared at numerous events in the Pine Bluff area, the Delta Cultural Center in Helena-West Helena, and various festivals and concerts throughout the region.

His recording credits include the 2012 album Calahula Man. He is a frequent visitor at the Port City Blues Society weekly blues sessions held in downtown Pine Bluff at RJ’s Grill and Bar on Wednesday nights.

Previous winners of the Sonny Payne Award for Blues Excellence include B.B. King, Mavis Staples, James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite, Bobby Rush, Hubert Sumlin, Michael Burks, Sam Carr, Robert Lockwood Jr. and Bob Stroger.