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The Jonbear Fourtet Story:

His footsteps scraped across the cobbled sidewalk as he clumsily attempted to peel a banana with one hand while holding his guitar case in his other. Just as he reached to take a bite, he heard his name called out through the warm August morning in a voice that chilled him to recognize. It was the voice of a man who he had dreamt about meeting for as long as he could remember, but he hesitated because he knew that man had been dead for almost twenty-five years. As he turned to face the voice, his breath froze in his chest as his fear was confirmed. In the back seat of the slowly approaching Cutlass sat Muddy Waters, the man who had first sang him the story of the times, the life, the blues. As the car slowly rolled past, the ghostly passenger pointed a finger at the guitar case now hanging lazily at the side of the mesmerized pedestrian and in voice deeper than the South itself muttered, “Do it.”

The Jonbear Fourtet was never planned to happen, the same way someone does not plan to find twenty dollars laying on an empty sidewalk. But when someone is staring down at Andrew Jackson and his green eyes are staring right back, they know what to do. Jonbear found himself in a similar situation, so when the father of the Chicago blues drove all the way from the afterlife to deliver this simple message, Jon knew what to do too. He had to tell his story. He had to sing his songs. And he would ‘do it’ with The Jonbear Fouret.

Stories like these have transformed The Jonbear Fourtet into the stuff of folklore. There are accounts ranging from Jon’s dream about Muddy to his drummer’s power to cast spells with his enchanting rhythms. The guitarist can even supposedly summon the fires of hell through his playing but cannot afford the risk of incinerating amplifiers at every show. Whether the numerous stories told in and between songs at The Fourtet’s performances are true is something for the listener to decide, but believer or not, listeners do agree on one thing. No matter where the music may or may not have come from, they know that they haven’t heard anything like it before. The tunes are new, yet nostalgic at the same time. Some are content to sit and tap a foot, others may find themselves reminiscing over places they’ve never even been. Fact or fiction, music or myth, when The Jonbear Fourtet performs, an invitation is extended to everyone in the audience to enjoy some music, listen to a story, and have some fun. Who knows? Maybe even Muddy will show up…