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Johnny Rawls has blossomed into one of the top talents in Soul/Blues today. He's a Blues Blueblood, born and raised in Mississippi, who spent over 2 decades apprenticing as a sideman to top masters of the idiom, learning and growling all the while.
Rawls is a true road warrior who has driven millions of miles with his own band as well as backing up legends such as Lynn White, Little Johnny Taylor, Z.Z. Hill, and O.V. Wright. Johnny has continually stayed in demand because of his considerable talent and versatility. He's proficient on guitar, bass, keyboards, and vocals in addition to being a fine producer.
It was the great O.V. Wright, "the man with the tear in his voice", who influenced Rawls the most. Johnny served as Wright's guitarist and bandleader from 1974 until his death in 1980. "It was a great experience playing with him, I learned a lot. He was one of the greatest singers that has ever lived. He was a friend of mine. See, we was like brothers. I picked up a lot of Soul influences from him."
Johnny started his climb of the Soul/Blues ladder with his recording (with Rawls & Luckett), Can't Sleep At Night on Rooster Blues that earned him the 1995 Living Blues Award runner-up for "New Soul/Blues Recording Of The Year". And, he received similar recognition in 1996 for Here We Go on JSP Records. But it would take another JSP release the following year, Louisiana Woman, to really shape today's Johnny Rawls sound of combining harder edged upbeat material and real world songwriting sensitivity. That sound is one that identifies Rawls as an artist not content to merely reinterpret yesterday, but instead determined to explore the endless possibilities of tomorrow.
Using that formula and mindset Rawls has gone on to record 8 more albums on various labels. No Boundaries on TopCat Records was consistently cited on the 2006 Living Blues Radio Charts. And, Heart & Soul – on Rawls' own Deep South Soul imprint – has earned him a 2007 Blues Awards nomination for "Soul Blues Album Of The Year". Finally, Johnny Rawls' time has come!
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