Barrelhouse Bonni
“Barrelhouse Bonni” McKeown is a piano player, singer and songwriter whose stage name recalls the old upright pianos in the juke joints that once peppered southern cotton fields and lumber camps. Her left-hand rhythms lay the groove for her low, smoldering voice. She brings back some toe-tapping boogies plus slinky songs from the classic 1930s blues divas, throwing in some 1960s soul ballads and her own 21st century originals including train-riding songs “Travelin’ On” and “Green Line Blues.”
Based in rural Hampshire County, WV during the 1980s and 90s, Bonni learned her trade at Augusta Blues Week in Elkins, WV from Gaye Adegbalola and Ann Rabson of the acoustic group Saffire the Uppity Blueswomen. After absorbing blues first hand for three years on the West Side of Chicago, she returned to West Virginia in 2006 to play in Charleston. She now travels between West Virginia and Chicago, taking the blues to schools, parties, and festivals.
Three of Washington DC’s finest acoustic bluesmen—Jay Summerour, Mike Baytop and NJ Warren—play as guests on Bonni’s 2003 CD, Barbershop Blues. She co-produced Chicago singer/drummer Larry Taylor’s first solo CD in 2004, They Were in This House, which the Chicago Sun-Times called “one of the year’s best blues albums.” She has written about the blues for Big City Rhythm and Blues magazine (Detroit) and about West Virginia’s African American musicians for Metro Valley (WV) Magazine. She has taught blues history and music to groups varying from elementary students at Piedmont School on Charleston WV’s East End and Austin Town Hall on the West Side of Chicago, to seniors at the FestivALL Elderhostel.
"African-Americans created the blues to help them survive,” says Bonni. “We need to give them the credit for this wonderful art form, which can help us all to survive what we're facing in the world today." Barrelhouse Bonni believes the blues can be a bridge between ethnic groups and generations. Her motto is: Pray for Peace, Work for Justice and Boogie for Survival!
Barrelhouse Bonni offers the following services. She is a member of AFM Local 136 in Charleston WV. She has a sound system, microphones and an electric keyboard if needed. She prefers to play an acoustic stringed piano when one is available. All prices are negotiated depending on time, effort, travel, and causes.
LITERARY TOO: Bonni does Writing, Editing, Proofreading: $15-25 per hour
1. Coffeehouse Barrelhouse: Bonni sings and plays, sometimes solo, sometimes with accompanying harmonica or saxophone player. Enjoy 1930s vintage piano blues, Chicago favorites, and her originals. Adapted for retirement homes, Bonni’s act includes an old-fashioned sing-along. One to two hours.
2. Blues Schmooze: This piano solo or duo (with horn) background, mostly instrumental music makes for classy, groovy receptions. Blues-based music with a few show tunes and holiday songs. One to three hours.
3. Workshop: Sing Your Own Blues Tune: Folks from age 7 through 107 can tell their own stories in classic three-line 12 bar blues verse. 45 min.- 1½ hours. Bonni usually co-leads this with Doris Fields “Lady D” www.ladyd.org or another professional musician. Variation: In “Blues No Booze,” folks can express sorrows and anger in song instead of drinking or drugging. 1-3 classes of 45 min. each, two leaders.
4. Workshop: Blues Roots in History. Adapted to all ages. Spirituals, field hollers and work songs are demonstrated with the group joining in. Live and recorded blues songs show how the music helped African-Americans survive, and how blues took different forms over the last 100 years: gospel, jazz, R&B, rock, soul, hiphop, even country & bluegrass. It’s music for all! When you’re proud of your heritage, it’s easier to accept yourself and to share with others. 1-3 classes of 45 min.each, two leaders.
5. Workshop: Blues Chords and 12 Bar Patterns: Those studying an instrument can make sense of what they’re hearing, using traditional African American call-response techniques and European musical scales. Blues is based on the same 1-4-5 chords we learn in classical music. The 12 bar tune is three lines: “I got a bad report card, please have mercy on me/ I got a bad report card, please have mercy on me/ Give it to a squirrel, let him run it up a tree.” Learn the pattern, catch the boogie rhythm, and repeat til it’s automatic. Blues is an easy style to pick up; it teaches basic music concepts quickly. Adapted to age groups. One to three classes 45 min.each, two leaders.
6. My Life in the Blues, A discussion with Bonni and Chicago Bluesman Larry Taylor. Larry’s musical parents moved from Mississippi to Chicago, along with half a million other people-- and the blues moved with them. As a youth, he looked up to Howlin’ Wolf and other blues masters who stopped by their house. Hear about the issues in today’s music business that give blues men and women, well, the blues, and how you can help. One-two hours, including a few songs with piano. Two leaders.
7. A Real Chicago West Side Blues Band: Larry Taylor comes from the rough, tough West Side, where blues is hard-hitting, dance-provoking and soulful. He sings everything from Howlin’ Wolf to Tyrone Davis and James Brown songs, fronting a band with drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, and horn. Great for festivals, school and community concerts, and dances. 45 min. sets with 15 min. breaks, up to 4 hours. Five or six musicians. Prices depending on travel, lodging and food arrangements. www.larrytaylorbluesnsoul.com