Sadly The King Biscuit Boys are no more.
You can keep an eye on what Jonathan is up to here.
Craig is now playing in The Mojo Mules.


After Jonathan finished his album "Just got to!" he has done a few solo shows and is joining others for live performances and collaborations. This has included Rich Miller, Stuart Maxwell and Jonathan & Friends

He can play a wide variety of blues styles and sounds. He has added harmonica to his arsenal.
Some songs will be with a looper to add a fuller sound.
Artists material can include Taj Mahal, Howlin' Wolf, Son House, Rolling Stones,
Muddy Waters, Danny Adler,
Mississippi John Hurt, Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Hound Dog Taylor and Rory Gallagher.
You get the picture!

See what live shows Craig and Jonathan are doing now by visiting our Live page.


The musicians joining Jonathan on "Just got to!" will include:

Ben White
20-year-old Ben has been playing the harp for 5 years, guitar for 3, bass for 2 and the piano for a few months. Ben plays traditional blues, because it’s the music he listens to 99% of the time. “It’s a deep well of music and such good stuff as well, mainly 30s through to the 50s and 60s at the latest, but it’s blues all day long” says Ben

Marc Ellison
Marc has added some of his talents to a couple of songs. He can be found mostly on his YouTube channel 
MarcGuitarVideos.

youtube.com/MarcGuitarVideos
facebook.com/marcellisonguitarist

Pete Royson
Peter comes from a similar background to Jonathan and shares his love of blues music. They met along time ago and Peter offered his help to provide some sympathetic and contrasting guitar.

Florence Waite
“Dyna Flo” as she became known during the recording is a young lady who though still in her teens shows an understanding of the music that you would expect from someone with far more years listening to the blues.

Ross Young
An old friend added some subtle percussion where it was needed on various songs.
 

The songs on Just got to!

1. Just got to
 (3.06)  This song was inspired be Lee Brilleaux’s quote “You don’t have to be a musician to play rock’n’roll. You’ve just got to love it and want to play it”. It had been lying around in various stages of completion for about 20 years. Perhaps it didn’t suit the King Biscuit Boys style. A little bit of tinkering with the lyrics and it finally came together. Jonathan & Peter laid down a couple of guitar parts Marc Ellison added some lead guitar to make it just that little bit better.

2. Slowly walking away  (3.44)  Craig and I had been playing this since early 2019. Ben White and I did a couple of gigs in Manchester and on these occasions his playing added some bounce to the song. He was therefore the obvious candidate to record what he had done before.

3. Ticket home  (3.20)  I had been to see Ian Siegal play at Dingwalls in Camden. On the way home I had most of this complete. Ben added some harp to it to make it a whole lot better.

4. Lazy Liar  (4.11)  As you know blues is not all about reflecting on what is lost. ‘Lazy Liar’ is one of those fighting back blues. We only played this song at a few gigs in the middle of 2019. I tried to add menace to the vocals by recording through a bullet mic and seeing what effects might work. Florence, Peter and Ross added their bits to make a better end result.

5. Listen  (3.30)  My mother’s advice was to 1, “spread your wild oats”. 2.” Listen to what your partner says”. I had most of these lyrics ready to do something with; and as I was listening to some Charlie Patton stuff and it came together. Ben thought some piano might help give it a barrelhouse effect. I guess it could easily have been recorded in the 1930’s.

6. Dust off your dancing feet  (5.52)  I have been working on this song since about 2018. Craig and I have played versions of it at our later gigs. I had a rough version ready which I sent to Ben White who added some excellent harp. Marc Ellison added guitar, drums and a bass to it. I mixed and messed around a bit and sent it back to Marc. He thought me artificially distorting the guitar worked, but he could do better with his Gibson Les Paul special & a 335 through a Blackstar HT5. He was right of course. Listen carefully and you may spot references to some other songs.

7. Valentine’s day  (3.11)  This was in The King Biscuit Boys set at our first gig. Latterly, Craig and I only played this a few times in February. It was inspired by a Bukka White style and someone leaving me on Valentine’s Day. Ben White added some very complementary harp to this song.

8. Lay my bible down  (3.56)  A very long time ago, this was one of the songs I played at my first open mic. With Craig being the son of a Baptist minister, it seemed inappropriate that we should do it; or maybe Craig just didn’t like it. Florence made a good job of following me with some harp.

9. Is she lying?  (3.10)  As it was most likely I would be doing more solo gigs I thought it might be useful to have some harmonica to break up the set.  I added the guitar part to keep it in check. As it happens Florence played the harp, but I will be doing it solo when the time comes.

10. Miss you when you’ve gone  (3.02)  Craig and I had recorded a version of this on our ‘Got my eyes on you’ album in 2016. We had been playing it from 2013. Anyway, it didn’t really work as it was, though it could be better in a band arrangement. I’ve still not got a band, so Peter and I worked 2 guitars to beef it up and Florence added the harp.

11. Big Sigh  (6.02)  Craig and I had tried to progress this song, but for a duo it didn’t quite get off the ground. After seeing The Shufflepack; I could hear how it would work with a little more accompaniment. To add more impact, it can be adapted, so the last few verses would be sung by a female.

New material from Jonathan

The soundcloud 4 track promo includes 4 tracks:

The songs are: Slowly walking away (Ben on harp), Miss You when you've gone (Florence on harp) Lazy Liar,(Florence, Pete & Ross) Got my ticket home (Ben on harp).

When Jonathan was learning about negotiations the main thing he remembered was the need to listen.

Not superficially, but to listen deep for meanings and understanding.

One of the things most of us do we fail to do now is listen. Skipping past tracks and having music on in the background is common practice.

Listen to what your heart says, what your mother tells you and make time to listen to music is my advice.


The Lazy Liar song has a full lyric video for your entertainment.


Thanks for listening.