Mojo the amazing one man band
"Howdy My name is Mojo. I'm here to entertain ya'll folks..."
People can expect something of "Mojo" Johnson, the one-legged, one-man-band, but what? Resting from his first set of the night on the back patio picnic table at the Thomas Street Tap in Redfield, Johnson talked about a lot of things - mystery-wrapped things of which he spoke in riddles.
What was this guy talking about? His face hidden in the shadows of a chrome skull-donned Crocodile Dundee hat, he wouldn't talk about how he lost his leg, and he refused to reveal his real name. He's Mojo. That's the name folks gave him when he was about 10, first learning how to play the blues in Tennessee. He said ''Mojo just kinda fit. ''
In true loyalty to his southern bluesy roots, every cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd,Johnny Cash,Prince and others has that slow-hand sound Johnson absorbed from his Tennessee,Texas-and Arkansas-set childhood-back when music wasn't so strictly defined.
“I came from the land where the music changed the world,” Johnson, 42, proudly said. “In the south, they taught me there are really three kinds of music: fast, medium and slow… I love all music.”
At the small area bars and bowling alleys, Johnson can be found hunched over a guitar named Scratch, singing into a microphone when he’s not huffing on the harmonica mounted onto his shoulders all Bob Dylan-style. His right foot stomps a bass drum,“I'm tryin’ to build something,” Johnson began. “There’s a vision behind all this. I wanna see more folks comin’ outta their houses with guitars in hand. I wanna see more live music, and I wanna see it all the time.”
So, he does have a mission: to bring a music scene to the “poverty-stricken, hard life, hard livin’ areas” he calls home. Johnson believes music is so important it can change the world, even if by only one small, unknown world at a time – specifically those small dots on the map like Booneville and Lorimor.
He moved to Winterset from Colorado Springs last December. He said, “a blizzard blew me over here,” but that’s probably not the real story. Guess that’s another one of those things ol’ Mojo would rather not talk about. One thing that is evident, though, Johnson really gets around.
In fact, he plays seven nights a week, working as many as 12 hours a night most weeks, throughout Dallas County and its neighbors.
“This is my life; this is what I do,” he said. “I Dont have a day job, so to speak.”
He takes a modest fee for his performances, but unable to shed his roadside blues background, he also plays over a vacant guitar case littered in coins and crumpled bills by the end of the night.
“He’s already built a good client base and he's building on it,” “This is something I really enjoy. I wanna help people overcome obstacles I want to inspire folks and feel better, if I can.”
According to his posters, Mojo Johnson is “The Amazing One Man Band.” So, what’s Danielle doing there? Johnson found Dani when he moved to Winterset, and the music joined the two. Now, the amazing one man band has a little back up, and it’s alright with Johnson. The two play well together and are good company in a dark and unpredictable nocturnal lifestyle.
“Adversities are the spices of life, and I’ve had a spicy life,” Johnson said. “But, y’gotta have the low times to know the high times.”
Anyone who’s out and about in the small town bars is bound to run into the one-legged, one-man band. He’s usually where an old familiar song is played to a distinctly bluesy tune. Check www.myspace.com/mojomuzic online for show listings.
A few of Johnson’s most well-known attributes, an old hat riddled with sentimental value, which he’s worn every day for the last 10 years; a corn cob pipe and a can of tobacco; a lighter; and a switch-bladepocket knife.
Fly Little Wing: the 15-year-old musical prodigy
By Amber Williams , Nite Breed Magazine
Like most 15-year-old kids, Danielle is desperate for the day when she can leave her small hometown and strike out on her own. But, unlike her peers, Dani’s ticket out is literally at the tips of her fingers…
Tiny, purple nail-polished fingers plucking, pushing and stretching the strings of a black and white Fender Stratocaster command such an eccentric leading composition a mesmerized audience is kept in awe. Every Sunday afternoon, Dani “Little Wing” and “the amazing one-man band,” Mojo Johnson, play a free show to a dedicated audience at a Care Center in Winterset. Just before dinnertime, the lounge room packs full of residents who make their way down the long halls in wheelchairs, walkers and canes in search of the source of the sound ringing through the building. Like the pied piper, Little Wing coaxes the crowd with ease.
“They just hear it and come down the hall,” said a staff member who’s on the staff at the facility. Every Sunday, five minutes to suppertime, the smell of hot roast beef laces the atmosphere, but not a soul makes its way to the cafeteria. “Nobody will leave until she and Mojo are gone.”
Sundays from 4-5 p.m., Little Wing and Mojo bring not only the residents out of their rooms, but friends and family also gather to hear Mojo’s blues led by Little Wing’s unorthodox, overhand guitar-picking style. Together, they also play town events such as the Adel Sweet Corn Festival, Redfield’s Old Settlers and the Wellman Watermelon Festival, as well as venues as far as Panora and Lorimor.
“I just love playing,” Dani humbly muttered, barely peering out from the long veil of brown curls framing her face. “It’s a way to get myself out there; gives me a purpose instead of just staying at home.”
Dani picked up a guitar about a year ago on a whim. She bought herself a cheap electric guitar and was determined to learn to play. But, when she approached a local music teacher for private lessons, she was guided toward the flute instead. She said the instructor needed a flute player and “didn’t teach the guitar to girls.”
“I was pretty pissed off,” Dani said. “She insisted I try the flute, and I could play it, but I didn’t want to play the flute. I wanted to play the guitar.”
It wasn’t long after that Dani’s and ol’ Mojo’s paths crossed. He taught her a few scales, then some chord progressions, and within days she was playing her first song: “Little Wing” by Jimi Hendrix. Within a month the two comprised a proud and playful duet at family-friendly venues in area small towns. Mojo signals to her the chord in which the next classic rock or blues cover is to come in the set, and she improvises accordingly. They never officially practice, and both joke they don’t even know the meaning of the word “rehearse.” But, whenever they’re together, so are their guitars.
Dani admits she didn’t know a note when she first picked up the guitar, but in one year’s time she’s developed an elegant overhand style when playing lead, a standard strumming style picking up the rhythm and even shows off playing left-handed or behind her back.
“She can play over her head, behind her back and even two-people on one guitar… like she has four hands,” Mojo boasted. Within the past month, she’s gotten her hands on a mandolin, and has taken on the challenge of diversifying her talent even more.
“I don’t know what’s in the future. I don’t plan for it at all,” Dani admitted. “I just go with the flow, and whatever happens happens. It all depends on what opportunities might come.”
In the meantime, Little Wing has become the talk of the town among a small following of fans in Winterset, yet the rest of the world is deprived. Anyone interested in checking out the musical talents or booking Little Wing for a gig should contact Mojo Johnson at (515) 314-4056 or visit www. myspace. com/mojomuzic online.
Hey whats going on? As usual, we are makin music havin a good time (We put up two of new songs on our upcoming album) Whats da plans for the winter break?
Your music rocks man!!!! I'm glad to see your success. I remember sitting next to you many days at ol Graven just hating life. Well justice is served, we are both doing what we love. All the best.
Ugh! Sorry it took so long for us to reply to your comment (at least I dont think Joe has been on either). Things have been way busy with the CD release, Halloween, and our "real jobs." Whats been up with you?
Hey Mojo Johnson, thank you for being our friend! where are you from? If you have a minute check out our stuff! Make sure to write us, we like hearing from everybody! And we are sincerely sorry if we have talked to you in the past, its just kinda hard to tell who is who from their little default pics haha. Either way write us back! Justin & The Season Premiere
Hey there Mojo fans! Mojo asked me to let you all know to come down to the Montgomery Street Pub in Creston tonight. He starts playing around 6-6:30.Come show your love.
hey there, sorry i couldn't come to the pub the other night, i had such a long day had to babysit for over 12 hours, and then crashed, hope everything is going well and that more and more come to join you wherever you may be. ;)
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