Michael ‘Mojo’ Webb lives and breathes the blues, and this Aussie legend and his band are all set to headline the Queensland Festival of Blues next month.
“The Queensland Festival of Blues is really great because it's put on by people that are really into this kind of music,” exclaims Webb, who has played at the festival the last few years.
“The combination of the line-up that they choose and the motivation behind the festival adds up to a really good atmosphere … [The line-up sports] quite a diverse range of different styles within the blues genre … They're all pretty much Queensland artists this year, which is great, it's really focussing on the local. I mean, some of them have travelled a lot further, but it looks like the focus is on people who originated from Queensland, which is cool.”
The Mojo Webb Band aren't strangers to the festival scene, having played major music festivals like Womadelaide, Byron Bay Blues & Roots Festival, the Woodford Folk Festival and the Caloundra Music Festival, among many others. Despite their constant presence at festivals, Mojo believes that both festival shows and solo gigs have their benefits.
“I think every environment is good for different reasons. There is something really nice about an intimate solo gig. You know you have 50 people sitting down and staring at you, watching what you do, but it's just a completely different vibe to playing at a festival where you've got people moshing and going crazy. It's cool, I dig playing almost any situation. Festivals are good because you know that the people are there for that kind of music. They’re just a lot of like-minded people, which is really cool.”
For those who have already seen The Mojo Webb Band play, their performance at the Queensland Festival of Blues will focus on their new songs.
“We've got a relatively new album out so we’ll mostly play a lot of songs from this album. It'll be a lot of original stuff off that, and just explosive. I think that's the thing that pops into my mind when I think about playing with the band, because I do a lot of solo gigs, but with the band it's really explosive — it's like three strong personalities all just exploding at the same time.”
Koojee Timms and JB Lewis are the other two people in the band.
“We've basically been playing together since 1998, so it's been years and years and years. They're my favourite people to play alongside, so I'm lucky that they're the guys I play with all the time.”
The band formed in 1998, but Mojo has been playing the blues a lot longer than that.
“I started when I was about 12 [years old]. My guitar teacher happened to be an amazing jazz musician. That was his real gig. He was also a professional guitar teacher for many years… there was something really cool and hip about him being a jazz and bluesy sort of dude.
"He wasn't just your regular guitar teacher. One of the lessons was a standard 12-bar blues song, and when I was about 14, I found out about the blues show on 4ZZZ and started listening to that as a kid, and just learning about blues. It just hit me… and that's all I have really been into ever since.”
If one thing’s for sure, it’s that Mojo's glad to be part of the Australian blues scene.
“It's kind of healthy. There's a real fondness here for rootsy kind of music... when I was in America last year in Memphis talking to musicians and seeing the general scene and the general vibe, it's really tough over there for a roots musician unless they get into the upper echelons of the scene. It's really tough. They're playing for tips and they're playing really cheap.
“I mean, in a way, Australia is this nice little naïve pocket of the world where musicians actually get paid. Well, sometimes. But, you know, just the fact that there are good festivals and regular gigs [here]... and the fact that I never really had a day job... I'm extremely lucky that that's the case with me. I'm not sure if it would have been the same overseas. Possibly, but I don't really know.”
The Mojo Webb Band will play at the Queensland Festival Of Blues at The New Globe Theatre Saturday November 2.
