John Bigham Interview

This is an interesting interview of John Bigham. Jazz artists turned bluesman. What is fascinating about this guy is that he changes his persona when he plays the blues. I guess in away all performers are that way, but this is just way too strange. He takes on the persona of John Black.
From The Bulletin out of Bend Oregon:

One of those ideas was for The Soul of John Black to be a dark, mysterious kind of thing, thus the titular "alter-ego," Bigham said. With this band, Bigham isn't Bigham. He's John Black, and the concept - borrowed from the 1976 blaxploitation horror film "J.D.'s Revenge" - is that Black was a great Chicago soul singer who was killed coming out of a club and has now inhabited Bigham's body.

So let's get this straight: Bigham is a career sideman ... who finally decided to head up his own band ... only to take on a fictional persona. If it seems like he's not quite comfortable with that role, it's probably because he isn't.

"I never stepped out like this before," Bigham said. "When I played with Fishbone and anyone else ... I liked to hang in the back and just play. When I step out in front, I'm more the shy guy, or more the reserved guy."

He is, however, getting used to being at the front of the stage. Or John Black is. One of the two.

"If you're going to be a frontman, you have to engage people," Bigham said. "If I'm going to do it, I want to do it all the way. I want to be engaging and step out there and let the full personality of The Soul of John Black come out."

You can catch the whole interview at the link above which will send you to The Bulletin website.