
Welcome to the updated website for Johnny Boy Kunk! Due to an unforeseeable pandemic crisis the management of JBK Music had become a world of chaos and inconsistency for live musicians globally. We appreciate your continued support through all the madness and for visiting the new site. Please check often for Live and Virtual show postings along with new merch purchasing opportunities. Thank you.
Johnny Boy Kunk
"Johnny Boy Kunk performs a gritty, down home style of one-man blues, an electrified stomp that gets your feet going and your taste buds hankering for Southern BBQ" - Ed Simon, The Boise Beat 2019
Who Is JBK?
A Telluride CO Blues Festival finalist (2nd place), 2019 MS Juke Joint Festival player, and local opener for Rev. Payton's Big Damn Band (Boise, ID). Traditional MS blues inspired player of only 26 based in Boise, ID
Genre: Blues, Alt Rock, Delta Blues, Hill Country blues, Blues Rock
MUSIC
History
Having chased hounds after coon and bear in the Sierra Nevada mountains, spent years in blue-collar welding shops, and given up an entire normal life just to plant his musical roots in the Mississippi Delta; Johnny Boy Kunk (John Kunk) has lived a life of the working class and salt of the Earth people. With inspirations of the first documented Delta blues players such as Charley Patton and Robert Johnson, Johnny returned from the state of MS and began his musical career as a hollering bluesman sliding his guitar riffs and shouting all up and down the streets of downtown Boise ID. As a young man with minimal guitar experience, he had himself gigs as somewhat of a historical act playing tunes and covers of the blues legends, but as the gig frequency grew and the skills increased he became the one of a kind musician the blues hadn't seen before. Inspired by the unique droning and moving tunes of hillcountry blues (R.L. Burnside, J.R. Kimbrough, MS Fred McDowell) Johnny began to explore his own sounds of both guitar and vocals and returned to the Delta to play the Mississippi Juke Joint Fest 2019 to do more studying. The changes in him were apparent and the need for diving into his own style were even more apparent. Johnny's latest album, Rough Start reached up to #4 on the best sellers list the first two weeks at Boise's very own Record Exchange. As the years roll on, Johnny's sound becomes an ever growing style combined with his love for psychedelic rock, country, and good ol' rock. Although, he has since stepped away from the title of "Blues" for respect of the cultural relevance; Johnny will forever be inspired by the blues legends of the South. He finds his inspirations for music amongst the life he lives on the road and in the garages he works in. From the steady purr of his chopper rolling down a coastal highway to the wrenching on a friend's motorcycle drinking a beer; Johnny searches for the beauty of the otherwise looked over beauty of being connected within a commjnity of folks doing their best to survive this world. Now teamed up with long time friend, Sam Gates, the duo perform an explosive blues rock show loud enough to fool an audience into thinking a 4 piece band was playing. Their new album, Hand in Hand, is set to be released this october 2021. We hope you all stay tuned for his growth from his blues roots and for any and all upcoming events and gigs!
DOWNLOADS
2021 Shows
