Super Chikan
James “Super Chikan” Johnson is a super-real bluesman. Johnson hails from Clarksdale, Mississippi, right in the heart of Delta Blues country, and claims to be related to the original blues legend, Robert Johnson.
He makes his own music and his own guitars – guitars that in themselves can be considered unique works of art.
There is no blues artist in the world today who presents himself the way Super Chikan does. He also stands out as one of the few artists who only surrounds himself with female band members. It is impossible not to fall in love with Super Chikan & the Fighting Cocks when you first attend one of their concerts.
James "Super Chikan" Johnson won the Blues Music Awards for the album "Chikadelic" for Best Traditional Blues Record in 2009. The Blues Music Awards are the blues' answer to the Grammys. "Chikadelic" was recorded at Notodden in the city's own Juke Joint Studio. His fellow musicians on the recording were the Notodden band Spoonful of Blues.
Super Chikan has had a special relationship with Notodden ever since he performed at the Notodden Blues Festival for the first time in 1998. Since then he has been back several times. Notodden's blues community, led by Spoonful of Blues, Rita Engedalen and the Notodden Blues Festival, has in all these years kept in close contact with Super Chikan and the blues community in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Notodden and Clarksdale became twin cities in 1996, and it is great to be able to invite musicians from our blues twin city back to the festival next summer.
Added to the story of Super Chikan is that there is now a documentary film: James "Super Chikan" Johnson - A Life In The Blues. A film that deals with both Johnson's colorful personal and musical life. If we are lucky, we may get the opportunity to show this film also at the Notodden Blues Festival 2025.
Photo: Morten Gjerde