Nashville bluesman Von Johin learned the art of Mississippi Delta-style blues the old fashioned way: by playing small venues across the country. But despite the traditional nature of his music, Von Johin plays weekly shows in Second Life, as you can see in the video below. His determination has paid off handsomely, with a record deal believed to be the first ever given to a Second Life performer.

“Never before has a virtual character been signed to a worldwide recording contract," stated Warren Croyle, CEO of Reality Entertainment, the company that signed him. “Von Johin is legendary in the virtual community Second Life for his heart-pounding live shows."

The deal was made in much the same way as its real-world counterparts. Two scouts from Reality Entertainment spent several months looking for promising artists to sign throughout Second Life. “It was a hard decision, but Von Johin is the real deal, he is original and plays from his heart," said Pud Puchkina, one of the scouts. “Just the man and his guitar, with just these two instruments and a virtual appeal like no other, he brings crowds to their feet daily."

Von Johin plays each Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST at his own Second Life venue “in the Yudasin Sim," Johin's Blue Note Club, named after his real-life recording studio on the outskirts of Nashville. He says he gets in the mood for his shows by “filling up on bbq, cornbread, greens and all the fixins, with a glass of Coca-Cola or some sweet honey (nectar of the gods) sweet iced tea by his side," and then plays traditional blues standards like Elmore James's “It Hurt Me Too," as seen in the video above. His instrumentation, consisting only of guitar and voice, comes across quite well as a live stream due to its simplicity, and the guy really knows his way around these blues standards.

A publicist for Reality Entertainment told us about the company's plans for Johin via e-mail. “Von, as an avatar, will play all his shows in Second Life, and they'll continue to be free," he explained. “As for touring, Von is already playing a fully booked schedule, but Reality is planning a big in-world event in addition to that."

The best way to see the show is in Second Life, so that you can hang out with the other avatars at the venue, but First Life adherents can listen along via Shoutcast by opening this location within their media player: http://www.vonjohin.com:8888/. (In iTunes, this involves clicking Advanced > Open Stream and pasting in the URL.)

Reality Entertainment, also home to KC and the Sunshine Band, plans to release Von Johin's debut album digitally through the usual outlets -- iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody and so on. Some of his music is also available for free download on TheSixtyOne.