John Allen's Bio
Guitarist and Vocalist John Allen was born in Aurora, Ill, near Chicago. His parents migrated there from the Delta of Arkansas where they were cotton sharecroppers. The name of the band and its musical style pay tribute to his family roots. John says, "I am very blessed to have parents who supported and nurtured my passion for music. They listened to a variety of records from James Cotton, Taj Mahal, Hank Williams, to Johnny Cash."
At the age of ten, John taught himself to play his father's guitar and at seventeen started teaching professionally. At that time John performed in nightclubs and did studio sessions with musicians twice his age.
Growing up in the city he worked at a "Ma and Pa" musical instrument store. He'd lean on the glass counter, look out the window and watch and listen to Albert Collins and Big Twist and Mellow Fellows play. He saw Koko Taylor perform by the side of the Fox River in the park walking home from work.
In 1991 John met Buddy Miles who recorded and performed with Wilson Pickett, Michael Bloomfield, Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsy’s, Carlos Santana, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, and the late great Muddy Waters. Buddy was drawn to the strong expression John produced from his guitar and together they co-wrote songs which they performed in Chicago. John says, “The Blues is the soundtrack to my reality and connection to my roots.”
He has traveled with his parents back to the Delta of Arkansas and absorbed the calming effects of the open spaces of farm life seen along the dusty dirt roads by the cotton fields. That is the reality he puts into the music of The Cotton Gin.
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Buddy
Miles and John Allen performing
on a bill with Bachman Turner Overdrive