Big Jon Atkinson

Big Jon Atkinson sustains the legacy of mid-century electric blues through his tributes to the Chicago and Delta traditions. Born in Florida in 1988, he spent his formative years absorbing vintage blues recordings during the 1990s and 2000s before taking up the guitar in his teens. At age 18 he departed Florida for Las Vegas, where he performed alongside visiting players, later expanding his skills to include harp and bass. He next settled in Knoxville, Tennessee, and assembled the group Big Jon & the Nationals. The ensemble maintained a steady performance schedule and issued independent releases, among them the 2014 Bluebeat album Boogie with You Baby, which also included contributions from Nathan James, Fred Kaplan, Marty Dodson, and Troy Sandow. In the mid-2010s Atkinson relocated to Southern California. Around the same period he issued the duet recording House Party at Big Jon's with Bob Corritore, an effort that broadened the guitarist’s reach to wider audiences.