John Keith has established himself as one of the top blues guitar players in the San Joaquin valley.  After performing and recording with rock bands in the Los Angeles area, John relocated to Central California in the 70s and showcased his guitar, bass playing and singing skills with the popular soul band The Charades of Tulare, California and also with the Loose Gravel Blues Band.  He is also known to perform with the mardi gras band Fat Tuesday and the Beatlesque Revolver.

A deep interest in the blues launched John on a solo career playing the San Joaquin Valley coffee house circuit in the late 90s.  Here he performs his highly accomplished mix of traditional fingerstyle music (Delta and Piedmont style blues) and more modern blues.  This new pursuit led to the release of his first blues CD, "Dirty Low Down Blues".  John's second blues release in 2003 "Woke Up This Mornin'" recorded live at Brewbaker's in Visalia, California continues to be a strong seller on Charade Records.

On his new release with Charade Records "Blues Come Tumblin' Down", John asked friends to join him to add their own special talents.  Don Boomer, a long time compadre and drummer, along with Rocky Siegenthaler, drummer from The Loose Gravel Blues Band, supplied the beat.  John Lauffenburger, bass guitarist extraordinaire, provided the bottom and guitarist Hunt Graves played tasty licks and solid rhythm.  Adding a touch of New Orleans gumbo and spice is Jeff Levine on the organ and piano.  The Grit-tones: Kevin Yee tenor sax, Tony Rohrkemper alto sax and John Keith himself on trombone polished up the horn section along with John King's tenor sax solos.  Ron Gibian kicks in on shakers and cowbell.

Assorted background vocals in the mix are delivered up by Khris Boomer, Gary Defoe, Luann Hickey, Terri Reese, Mike Wilson, Reid Power, Bob Dennison, Arvada Spina and from The Charades, Syl Grigsby and Ray Baradat.

Let's not forget that not only did he write 11 of the 12 songs, John Keith played bottleneck, slide, acoustic, electric, resonator, bass guitars, piano, trombone and sang lead and background vocals.  All recorded and mixed by Reid Power at the Powerhouse Recording Studio in Visalia, California.

It's been a pleasure working with John for the past 25 years.  This is our fourth album working together and the second under his name.  I'm just waiting now for another 12 songs to be written so we can get started on the next project.

Ray Baradat
Charade Records