Johnnie Billington

Billington’s residency will have him presenting workshops in numerous Quad-City area schools, as well as giving free, open-to-the-public performances:

· Wed. Feb. 10, 7 p.m. — Mojo’s in the RME, Davenport

· Thurs. Feb. 11, 5 p.m. — United Neighbors, 808 Harrison St., Davenport

· Fri. Feb. 12, 4 p.m. — Martin Luther King Jr. Center, 630 9^th St., Rock Island

Johnnie Billington was born in 1935 in Crowder, Mississippi, a small community on the Quitman/Panola county line. His father was a sharecropper, and he grew up working on the farm. He first became interested in music through listening to the legendary blues show “King Biscuit Time,” which was broadcast from nearby Helena, Arkansas. Billington’s father bought him a guitar when he was 10 years old, and he began teaching himself the instrument by playing along with the King Biscuit performers. By the age of 13 he was playing in clubs throughout the Delta with a Clarksdale-based band.

In the early 1950s, the other members of the band migrated to cities in the North. Billington left in 1954, first moving to Arizona, then settling in Chicago in 1959. There, he reunited with his Mississippi bandmates, and they began playing local clubs. Sometimes they were able to jam with many of the legendary Chicago bluesmen, including such fellow Mississippi natives as Muddy Waters, Elmore James, and Earl Hooker. During the day, Billington worked at several different automotive plants and eventually opened up his own car repair shop, Johnny’s Sunoco in Robbins, Illinois.

Billington returned to Mississippi in 1977 to be close to his aging mother and the rest of his family. He settled in Clarksdale and continued automotive repair work in the day. While practicing his guitar at night, Billington discovered some neighborhood kids interested in music. He then began using his automobile repair shop in the evenings as a rehearsal space for teaching the kids how to play the blues.

Billington was able to expand his teaching efforts through grants from the Mississippi Arts Commission, and in the early 1990s he established the Delta Blues Education Fund [DBEF], a non-profit organization that offers a free, year-long blues music instruction program to Delta youth. Billington works with the students as a group, forming them into bands, teaching them the blues repertoire and how to play together. In addition to the musical instruction, he stresses the importance of professionalism by requiring the students to be prompt, maintain good conduct during rehearsals, and have a neat appearance. He also provides them with information about the history of blues in the Mississippi Delta.

Billington also provides his students opportunities to perform in public. He uses several of his more advanced students as his backup musicians in the group he leads, J.B. and the Midnighters. The group performs in a variety of venues throughout the region, including blues and community festivals, schools, and community centers. Many of his former students have gone on to work as leaders and sidemen in professional blues groups and perform throughout the Delta and internationally.

Billington works with many children not involved with his Delta Blues Education Fund organization through residency programs held at schools and community centers. While most of his residencies take place within Mississippi, he has also conducted them in Florida and at Harvard University.

Johnnie Billington has received several honors for his work in educating Delta youth, including the Blues Foundation’s Keeping the Blues Alive Award in Education, the Early Wright Award for preservation of the blues, the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Folk Arts Fellowship, and an Artist Achievement Award from the Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts. He also served as a master artist in the Arts Commission’s Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program and was featured in River of Song, the 1999 PBS TV series focusing on music along the Mississippi River.

Johnnie Billington’s Black History Month residency is made possible by major support from the Riverboat Development Authority. Additional support is provided by the Illinois Arts Council, The Lodge, the RME, and KALA radio.

--Jimmie Jones