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John Litzenberg

John has been writing and performing music for 40 of his 49 years, from Detroit to LA to Boston to New Orleans to Natchitoches

About Me

A native of Royal Oak, Michigan, John has been on-stage playing music for 35 years - since he was eight. He formally studied clarinet, violin, piano, voice and composition from elementary through high school (although he switched from violin to double and electric bass at 11), taught himself guitar, accordion and lap steel, and over the years learned a repertoire and style that has crossed, blended and defied genres. At 12, he was asked to play bass in a high school jazz ensemble, earned outstanding ratings from the Ohio Solo & Ensemble Federation on clarinet and violin, and was a bassist with the Lima Youth Symphony; at 14, he replaced a graduating senior as bassist in his school jazz band; at 15, he sat in with a Community College adult orchestra and got his first paying gig in the pit band for the entire run of a Cal State Dominguez Hills musical. He was recognized for achievement in instrumental and vocal music by all of his instructors, and received his high school’s Louis Armstrong Jazz Award. After graduating, John met a group of older Chicago blues musicians and started playing clubs throughout Los Angeles, although still underage, where he met blues legends like Peewee Crayton, who called him a “bad m*f* bass player.” A few promising opportunities (a project with Peewee’s grandson Marshall and keyboardist Jeff Lorber, a band with the lead singer of Corpus Delicti, and a revamped lineup of psychedelic revival band The Things) failed to materialize, but John kept playing and writing as part of the goth, punk and garage band scene in LA. At 26, wanting a change of scenery (and coasts), he applied to, and was accepted by Berklee College of Music on a voice scholarship.

After two unfocused years hanging out in Boston, John shifted musical gears again by moving to the home of many of his influences – Memphis. Hundreds of acoustic shows and a stint as an ordained Elvis impersonator later, he looked westward again, to Seattle. Once used to being married, and the weather, he realized while grunge and punk had attracted him, his folk and country roots and focus on his guitar playing kept him busy. Relationship problems then forced another move; this time, back to rural Ohio, where a cousin happened to have a band. Soon, though, John got bored and looked to another great musical inspiration -- New Orleans. There from 1999 until Hurricane Katrina, he established a family and immersed himself in writing and recording.

Since relocating to Natchitoches in 2005, John has regularly performed on guitar, bass, lead and backing vocals. He currently works with Hardrick Rivers in both the Rivers Revue and Rivers Blues Band. He also maintains a 32-track digital home studio, and continues to write and record on guitar, bass, dobro, mandolin, violin and piano.

In addition to his musical accomplishments, John is also a published poet.

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because it is America, in musical form. I was first exposed to jazz in junior high school stage band I've met a lot of musicians... The first jazz show I ever attended was Maynard Ferguson in 1977 at Ohio Northern University The first jazz record I bought was Columbia's Newport 1959 Sampler My advice to new listeners: listen to everything