Culture
John Németh on keeping the blues alive ahead of River City Blues Festival
By: Emily Votaw
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MARIETTA, Ohio (WOUB) — Few modern blues artists command a stage quite like John Németh.
The Grammy-nominated singer, harmonica player, and songwriter has spent more than two decades electrifying audiences with a sound that blends gritty blues tradition with the fire of soul, R&B, and rock. Backed by his band the Blue Dreamers, Németh’s powerhouse vocals and razor-sharp harmonica playing have made him a standout on stages all over the world.
On Friday, Németh will headline the opening night of the 33rd annual River City Blues Festival, presented by the Mid-Ohio Valley Blues, Folk & Jazz Music Society at the Lafayette Hotel (101 Front Street). The performance will also mark the kickoff of his Spring Fever Tour.
Ahead of the festival, WOUB spoke with Németh about discovering the blues, the role non-profit organizations play in keeping the music alive, and what audiences can expect when he and the Blue Dreamers take the stage.
Find a transcript of the conversation, edited for length and clarity, below.
Emily Votaw: I’m excited to talk with you about one of my favorite events in the Mid-Ohio Valley, the River City Blues Festival — which you’re headlining the first night of.
John Németh: Yeah, I’m really excited. It’s a fantastic event and I’m super happy to be part of it.
Have you played it before?
Németh: I have — I want to say maybe 2017 or 2018.
Very cool. What stood out to you about it?
Németh: What I loved is that the people who come out are real blues fans. You can tell they listen to the records, understand the language of the blues, and they love to dance. That’s beautiful — and it doesn’t happen at blues festivals as much as it used to.
I know you’re actually kicking off your Spring Fever tour with this date at the festival, right?
Németh: Mm-hmm. Correct.
Nice. Is there anything that makes it a meaningful start date? I hope it’s also just a convenient location, but is there anything else about it that makes it a good way to kick things off?
Németh: Well, anytime you can kick off a tour with a great audience and a great festival lineup, that’s fantastic. I also get to see friends — other musicians who are on tour all the time — which doesn’t always happen this time of year. Usually I’m playing theaters and club dates that are solo shows, not festivals. So I think that’s what makes it really cool.
Shifting gears a little, your website bio mentions that you discovered the blues through Junior Wells and Buddy Guy’s Hoodoo Man Blues. What about that record resonated so deeply with you as a young person?
Németh: I think that album really captures the spirit of the blues. It feels very impromptu. They’re performing songs that had been around a long time, but they’re putting their own twist on them, which is very much in the spirit of the blues. Each blues artist reshapes the music into their own personality — that’s their artistry.
I had listened to a lot of blues leading up to that moment from different artists, but that album wraps up hundreds of years of blues history. There’s a lot of respect for the heritage of the music, but also a respect for not just copying it — for making it something new and moving it forward.
I’m also curious because part of the mission of the organization that presents this event, the River City Blues Festival, is music education — especially exposing young people to American roots music. What are your thoughts on that? What’s the best way to get kids into the blues?
Németh: I think the best way is doing exactly that. For the most part, the only way to get kids into the blues these days is through education — through schools and programs like this. Another way would be to get blues on the radio, on terrestrial radio, which is extremely difficult now because radio is monopolized by corporate conglomerates. It’s probably been over 30 years since there’s been a blues song on Top 40 radio.
Here’s an example. I’m on a record right now called B.B. King’s 100th Birthday Summit. It’s a tribute to B.B. King, with everyone from George Benson and Eric Clapton to Buddy Guy, Joe Bonamassa, and Joanne Shaw Taylor — a real cavalcade of stars. The album is number 10 on the Billboard sales chart. But is there a song from that record on terrestrial radio? No.
And I think the reason blues isn’t on terrestrial radio is because those corporate conglomerates can’t control what the blues might do to the youth of America. When young people hear the blues, they dig it. I dug it when I heard it. When the blues was on the radio — like in the ’90s when Stevie Ray Vaughan came along — it spurred a huge movement in rock ‘n’ roll. The grunge movement, all those power-trio bands, and players like Kenny Wayne Shepherd who were getting radio play — that all grew out of the blues. When that kind of thing happens, the big executives lose control, and they don’t like that. So there’s almost a war against the blues.
Yeah, I know what you mean — it’s powerful music. Do you think there’s any hope? Is there a way out of that situation, or are we kind of sunk?
Németh: The way out is when the politicians in this country decide that artists are worth more than the bean counters at these corporations. The reality is that streaming companies basically force musicians to use platforms like Spotify and iTunes to get their music out there, and then they don’t pay you for it. iTunes used to pay well when songs were downloadable, and even early streaming paid better, but when Spotify came around they were allowed to operate in a way that changed everything. So the government is partly at fault, and the corporations are at fault too.
It’s a tragedy, because America should be celebrating its artists, its music, and its culture. We should be lifting artists up instead of just trying to make a buck off them. And honestly, that’s the blues right there — that struggle. It’s economic slavery.
It’s interesting, though, that organizations like the Mid-Ohio Valley Blues, Folk and Jazz Music Society are working to keep the music alive. Could you talk about the importance of those groups and what’s at risk if they were to disappear?
Németh: Those groups are the lifeblood. In Memphis there’s an organization called the Blues Foundation that gives awards every year for keeping the blues alive. All these groups that put on festivals, support community radio shows, and bring blues into schools — they’re everything.
The system might try to keep the music down, but these organizations around the country and around the world know what’s right. They love this music and they want to see it continue. Just like Junior Wells and Buddy Guy were reshaping the blues in the ’60s for younger audiences, these groups are putting in the time to keep it moving forward.
And it takes a lot of time. Putting together a blues festival is a huge undertaking. People are putting in forty hours a week just to make these events happen. Maybe we don’t see huge financial rewards from playing the blues, but we get the joy of the music. That’s why we do it, and that’s why festivals like this exist. The blues is the music of the people, and every culture has its own version of it. The government can’t take that away, and corporations can’t drown it out.
For audiences in Marietta who might be seeing you for the first time on the festival’s opening night, what can they expect from you and the Blue Dreamers on stage?
Németh: They can expect their bodies to start moving in ways they maybe haven’t moved in a while — or maybe never have. And they can expect to feel something deep in their soul, somewhere in their human DNA that connects them to the human experience. I guarantee smiles and great times. That’s my mission and my calling — to do that for people wherever I go.
And Marietta is a great town. I’ve had a lot of wonderful experiences there. I’ve also done Mountain Stage before — and you know that? The audiences out there are fantastic. You can tell that little spot in the world hasn’t been as affected by the outside world. It’s a real grassroots kind of place. For that reason, I’m always excited to come back and perform there.