In 2007, Chris Johnson held the first Deep Blues Festival in a field just outside of the twin cities. 18 bands performed in an all day event. This was a celebration of outsider and alternative blues and music inspired by these artists. Over the years, hundreds of bands have been involved with the festival and also performing at Chris’ Bayport BBQ. "What excited me about this music was that it was so different," said Johnson. "It was raw and immediate and went all the way back to the roots, and artists like R.L. and Junior had so much character.
"Next came his discovery of artists like the Black Diamond Heavies, Scott H. Biram, and Bob Log younger independents making music under the influence of Kimbrough, Burnside, and their hill country kin, including Jessie Mae Hemphill and Othar Turner." This new, raw strain of hybrid blues offers deep roots to fans of traditional music. And while Burnside, Kimbrough, Hemphill and Turner are now dead, Kenny Brown, Elmo Williams and Hezekiah Early, and a handful of other Mississippians soldier on." Excerpts from The Blues Is Not Dead: The New Blues Underground Rises Up by Ted Drozdowski about Chris Johnson and the Deep Blues Festival.
