Jontavious Willis (born 1996) is an American

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

singer, guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Willis has released three albums to date, with his sophomore effort, ''Spectacular Class'', debuting at number 12 in the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Blues Albums Chart in May 2019. He has been mentored through his early career by

Keb' Mo' Kevin Roosevelt Moore (born October 3, 1951), known as Keb' Mo', is an American blues musician. He is a singer, guitarist and songwriter, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as "a living link to the seminal Delta blues that tra ...

, and

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

Biography

Jontavious Willis was born in

Greenville, Georgia Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Meriwether County, Georgia, United States. The population was 794 at the 2020 census, down from 876 in 2010. The city is located southwest of Atlanta and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area ( ...

, United States. He grew up singing

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

, alongside his grandfather, at his local Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church. At the age of 14, Willis watched an online video of

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

performing "

Hoochie Coochie Man "Hoochie Coochie Man" (originally titled "I'm Your Hoochie Cooche Man") is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954. The song makes reference to hoodoo folk magic elements and makes novel use of a sto ...

" and was drawn towards

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

music. He learned to play many styles of

including

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, eventually becoming adept on the guitar as a fingerpicker, flatpicker and slide player. He developed further in his teens towards an

autodidactic Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodid ...

multi-instrumentalist. In addition to the guitar, Willis taught himself to play the harmonica and five string banjo. He studied at

Columbus State University Columbus State University is a public university in Columbus, Georgia, United States. Founded as Columbus College in 1958, the university was established and is administered by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. History ...

, majoring in sociology and anthropology. His playing progressed and he was given a big opportunity in 2015 when

invited Willis onto the stage to perform. Taj Mahal stated afterwards, "That's my Wonderboy, the Wunderkind". The exposure led to appearances at music festivals and Willis self released his debut album, ''Blue Metamorphosis'', in April 2017. ''Blue Metamorphosis'' got favorable reviews from both ''

Living Blues ''Living Blues: The Magazine of the African American Blues Tradition'' is a bi-monthly magazine focused on blues music, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van ...

'' and ''

Blues & Rhythm ''Blues & Rhythm'' is a British music magazine dealing with all aspects of blues and gospel music. Founded in July 1984 it is - along with its American counterpart ''Living Blues'' - considered to be the premier magazine for all aspects of resear ...

'' magazines.

Paul Oscher Paul Allan Oscher (February 26, 1947 – April 18, 2021) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist. Primarily a harmonica player, he was the first permanent white member of Muddy Waters' band.Norman Darwen, "Obituary: Paul ...

stated "When I heard him play I said to myself: this is how the blues, as I know it, is going to stay alive." In 2018, the album earned recognition from the

Blues Foundation The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 blues organizations from various parts of the world. Founded in 1980, a 25-person board of directors governs t ...

through the

International Blues Challenge The International Blues Challenge (IBC) is a music competition run by the Blues Foundation. Notable blues artists that have competed in the IBC over the years also includes Fiona Boyes, Eden Brent, Michael Burks, Tommy Castro, Sean Costello, ...

, where it received the 'Best Self-Produced CD Award'. In 2017,

had partnered up with Taj Mahal to release a joint album, ''

TajMo ''TajMo'' is the first collaborative studio album by American blues musicians Taj Mahal (musician), Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo'. It was released on May 5, 2017 via Concord Records. Recording sessions took place at Stu Stu Studio in Nashville, Tennessee ...

''. It won the 2018

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album was awarded from 1988 to 2011 and from 2017 onwards. Until 1992 the award was known as Best Contemporary Blues Performance and in 1989 was awarded to a song rather than to an album. The award was ...

. On the resulting promotional tour, Willis played as the support act for the two seasoned blues men on several dates. On April 5, 2019, Willis released his follow up album, ''Spectacular Class''. The album was issued on Kind of Blue Music. Taj Mahal was credited as executive producer and Keb' Mo' as producer. The collection contained ten sides with the lyrical content all penned by Willis. He provided vocals and acoustic guitar (fingerpicker/flatpicker/slide) with Keb' Mo' on electric guitar, Eric Ramey on bass,

Phil Madeira Philip Kamm Madeira (born April 9, 1952) is an American songwriter, producer, musician, and singer. He was raised in Barrington, Rhode Island, and graduated from Taylor University in 1975. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee. His songs have been ...

on keyboards, plus Martin Lynds and Thaddeus Witherspoon on drums. ''Spectacular Class'' debuted at number 12 in the ''

'' Blues Albums Chart in May 2019, and was nominated for the 2020

Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album was awarded from 1983 to 2011 and from 2017 onwards. Until 1992 the award was known as Best Traditional Blues Performance and was twice awarded to individual tracks rather than albums. The award ...

. Tour dates for 2019 and beyond include concerts in the US, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

Discography

Albums

References

External links

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Discogs entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Jontavious 1996 births Living people People from Greenville, Georgia American blues singers American blues guitarists American acoustic guitarists American multi-instrumentalists American blues harmonica players African-American banjoists Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Singers from Georgia (U.S. state) Country blues musicians African-American male songwriters African-American guitarists

Biography

Discography

Albums

See also

References

External links