Johnny Burgin & Aki Kumar with Ben Rice - WOW Hall
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The Community Center for the Performing Arts is pleased to present A Blues Triple Header with: Johnny Burgin & Aki Kumar with Ben Rice on Wednesday, September 9th at the WOW Hall. Join us for a night of blues with support from June Core and Randy Bermudes.
Johnny Burgin’s known as road warrior who’s on tour close to 200 nights a year across the States, in Mexico and Europe. But if you’d told him this would be his career when he was in High School, he wouldn’t have believed you. Johnny grew up in Mississippi and South Carolina and went to University of Chicago with the intention of becoming a writer. When a friend took him out to a West Side ghetto club to hear the blues singer Tail Dragger, it was a conversion moment.
The blues came to life for Johnny and he fell headfirst into the vibrant Chicago blues scene. Choosing the blues clubs over the library, Johnny eagerly absorbed the lessons from the blues masters who practiced their craft nightly. By persistence and practice, Johnny gained a spot in Tail Dragger’s band, and started gigging and recording with traditional blues veterans like Sam Lay, Billy Boy Arnold, and Pinetop Perkins.
By the late 90s, Johnny was working regularly in Chicagoland blues clubs under his own name. Johnny started a Monday night residency at The Smoke Daddy in Wicker Park, featuring vocalist Jimmy Burns. The band featured other future blues notables who were also at beginning of their careers, such as Kenny Smith on drums and Martin Lang on harp, and they created quite a buzz. They packed the club every Monday with a younger, hip crowd, as well as blues veterans stopping by to sit in such as Dave Meyers, Jesse Fortune, Barkin’ Bill, etc. Their success led to a record deal with Delmark and the first of several European tours.
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Aki Kumar left his native home in Mumbai, India for the United States with the intention of working as a software engineer. Then he discovered the sounds of the blues, and his life changed dramatically. A masterful harmonica player, soulful vocalist, band-leader, drummer and producer, Kumar is a man of many talents and one of the most prolific artists in the SF Bay Area today. He has successfully blended retro Indian music into his presentation, making for a unique, electrifying, multi-cultural mash-up that sounds like no one else, yet never loses touch with the inspiration it draws from the blues.
A veteran of the San Jose music scene for two decades, Kumar was hailed as "...King of ‘Bollywood blues’ music" by SJ Mercury News (2022) and received the Metro Silicon Valley Gold Award for Best Band (2024). Kumar's "Little Village" releases "Aki Goes To Bollywood" (2016) and "Hindi Man Blues" (2018) are considered ground-breaking albums that have garnered international critical acclaim. In 2020, Kumar made major news with the world-wide launch of his album "Dilruba" on Sony Music. In 2021, Little Village released Kumar's uplifting reggae-inspired single "Zindagi" (Life).
2025 marked a milestone year for Kumar with the release of his self-produced “Little Village” album “God Bless The USA” Aki Kumar has made multiple appearances at The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, San Jose Jazz & SF Jazz Festivals, and has been featured on PRI “The World,” KQED Arts and CBS Bay Area. He has toured extensively over the years, including in Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, Australia, India and South America.
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Ben Rice might be described as quiet and unassuming—until he picks up a guitar. A three-time Blues Music Award nominee, Rice has built a reputation as one of the most expressive and versatile artists in today’s roots and blues scene. While he began in traditional blues, over the years he’s expanded his sound with soul, R&B, folk, and country, creating a welcoming front-porch atmosphere where every listener feels at home.
Raised on a mix of vinyl treasures—his dad’s Steely Dan, Bob Marley, and Marshall Tucker alongside his mom’s Al Green, Barry White, and George Benson—Rice discovered the guitar at age seven and never looked back. Early thrift-store finds introduced him to Mississippi John Hurt, Bukka White, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Robert Cray, influences that shaped his fearless, inventive, and powerful guitar style. Whether on a steel resonator or his custom-carved electric, Rice’s intensity and originality consistently turn heads.
Audiences are equally drawn to his heartfelt songwriting and evocative vocals. “My goal is to reach people in a way that they need to be reached,” Rice explains. “To say things they may not get to say or hear things they may not normally get to hear.” In performance, he treats every song as a story, channeling the emotions of the characters and inviting listeners to find their own meaning within the music.
Johnny Burgin’s known as road warrior who’s on tour close to 200 nights a year across the States, in Mexico and Europe. But if you’d told him this would be his career when he was in High School, he wouldn’t have believed you. Johnny grew up in Mississippi and South Carolina and went to University of Chicago with the intention of becoming a writer. When a friend took him out to a West Side ghetto club to hear the blues singer Tail Dragger, it was a conversion moment.
The blues came to life for Johnny and he fell headfirst into the vibrant Chicago blues scene. Choosing the blues clubs over the library, Johnny eagerly absorbed the lessons from the blues masters who practiced their craft nightly. By persistence and practice, Johnny gained a spot in Tail Dragger’s band, and started gigging and recording with traditional blues veterans like Sam Lay, Billy Boy Arnold, and Pinetop Perkins.
By the late 90s, Johnny was working regularly in Chicagoland blues clubs under his own name. Johnny started a Monday night residency at The Smoke Daddy in Wicker Park, featuring vocalist Jimmy Burns. The band featured other future blues notables who were also at beginning of their careers, such as Kenny Smith on drums and Martin Lang on harp, and they created quite a buzz. They packed the club every Monday with a younger, hip crowd, as well as blues veterans stopping by to sit in such as Dave Meyers, Jesse Fortune, Barkin’ Bill, etc. Their success led to a record deal with Delmark and the first of several European tours.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Aki Kumar left his native home in Mumbai, India for the United States with the intention of working as a software engineer. Then he discovered the sounds of the blues, and his life changed dramatically. A masterful harmonica player, soulful vocalist, band-leader, drummer and producer, Kumar is a man of many talents and one of the most prolific artists in the SF Bay Area today. He has successfully blended retro Indian music into his presentation, making for a unique, electrifying, multi-cultural mash-up that sounds like no one else, yet never loses touch with the inspiration it draws from the blues.
A veteran of the San Jose music scene for two decades, Kumar was hailed as "...King of ‘Bollywood blues’ music" by SJ Mercury News (2022) and received the Metro Silicon Valley Gold Award for Best Band (2024). Kumar's "Little Village" releases "Aki Goes To Bollywood" (2016) and "Hindi Man Blues" (2018) are considered ground-breaking albums that have garnered international critical acclaim. In 2020, Kumar made major news with the world-wide launch of his album "Dilruba" on Sony Music. In 2021, Little Village released Kumar's uplifting reggae-inspired single "Zindagi" (Life).
2025 marked a milestone year for Kumar with the release of his self-produced “Little Village” album “God Bless The USA” Aki Kumar has made multiple appearances at The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, San Jose Jazz & SF Jazz Festivals, and has been featured on PRI “The World,” KQED Arts and CBS Bay Area. He has toured extensively over the years, including in Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, Australia, India and South America.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ben Rice might be described as quiet and unassuming—until he picks up a guitar. A three-time Blues Music Award nominee, Rice has built a reputation as one of the most expressive and versatile artists in today’s roots and blues scene. While he began in traditional blues, over the years he’s expanded his sound with soul, R&B, folk, and country, creating a welcoming front-porch atmosphere where every listener feels at home.
Raised on a mix of vinyl treasures—his dad’s Steely Dan, Bob Marley, and Marshall Tucker alongside his mom’s Al Green, Barry White, and George Benson—Rice discovered the guitar at age seven and never looked back. Early thrift-store finds introduced him to Mississippi John Hurt, Bukka White, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Robert Cray, influences that shaped his fearless, inventive, and powerful guitar style. Whether on a steel resonator or his custom-carved electric, Rice’s intensity and originality consistently turn heads.
Audiences are equally drawn to his heartfelt songwriting and evocative vocals. “My goal is to reach people in a way that they need to be reached,” Rice explains. “To say things they may not get to say or hear things they may not normally get to hear.” In performance, he treats every song as a story, channeling the emotions of the characters and inviting listeners to find their own meaning within the music.
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Where is it happening?
291 W 8th Ave, Eugene, OR, United States, Oregon 97401
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherThe WOW Hall
