Stevie J Blues

Stevie J Blues was born Stephen Johnson in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, in a Pentecostal pastor's household. He began on drums at his father's church before switching to guitar, and played lead guitar for The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, the Mighty Clouds of Joy and The Williams Brothers. He also lent his guitar to Shirley Caesar and toured as a quartet musician from 1992 to 2001.

In 2001 he met Bobby Rush at Malaco Records. He joined Rush's band in 2002, played on Rush's Folk Funk and Live at Ground Zero, appeared in Martin Scorsese's The Blues series, and toured Europe, including the Cognac Blues Festival in France. He also worked sessions with Dorothy Moore, Denise LaSalle, Shirley Brown, Mel Waiters and Vick Allen.

His solo debut, 2 Sides of a Man (2008), was the last signing by label owner Senator Jones; its single Because of Me reached No. 1 on the Southern soul chart. He represented the Central Mississippi Blues Society at the 2009 International Blues Challenge and won the 2010 Jus' Blues Award for Contemporary Blues Artist (Male). The two-disc Diversity Project, half blues and half Southern soul, was a 2011 IBC album nominee. Later releases include Back 2 Blues (2016), Let's Get Back to Love (2024) and new 2026 singles.

He performs as Stevie J and The Blues Eruption or the Stevie J Blues Band. Recent dates include the 2025 Chicago Blues Festival (a 75-minute set on the Visit Mississippi Crossroads Stage) and Blues at the Arch in St. Louis (2026), where a reviewer said he "came out with great energy from the first note." His song Juke Joint Lover is on the 2025 Jacktown USA compilation.