Before the Rockin’ Johnny Band
John Sefner worked with Studebaker John and Eddie Kirkland before joining the Rockin’ Johnny Band. By 2012 he was part of Johnny Burgin’s Chicago lineup, alongside rhythm guitarist Rick Kreher and drummer Steve Bass. The band worked clubs and festivals with a repertoire that included Chicago blues, swing, soul, and original songs.
Electric and upright bass
Sefner’s recording work with Studebaker John includes Time Will Tell. Its credits identify him on both electric and upright bass, giving a more specific picture of his instrumental work than the general bass credit used on many later releases. His association with Studebaker John preceded the Rockin’ Johnny lineup that brought him onto two Delmark albums in 2012.
Work with different bandleaders meant accompanying different combinations of guitar, harmonica and voice. In the Rockin’ Johnny Band, Sefner and Steve Bass formed the core rhythm section beneath Burgin’s lead guitar and Rick Kreher’s rhythm guitar. When Barrelhouse Chuck joined for Buck’s Cell Phone Man, piano became another part of that ensemble.
Grim Reaper
Sefner plays bass on the Rockin’ Johnny Band’s Grim Reaper, released by Delmark in 2012. Burgin sings and plays guitar, Kreher supplies rhythm guitar, and Big D plays harmonica, with Steve Bass on drums. A horn section joins the group on two selections. The fifteen-track album includes Burgin originals and material associated with Jody Williams, Otis Rush, Fenton Robinson, and Little Walter.
The program moves between the slow title song, the loping ‘I Was Fooled,’ and a new treatment of ‘Rollin’ and Tumblin’.’ Sefner and Bass remain the rhythm section as the guitar, harmonica, and occasional horns change the foreground. Delmark’s contemporary newsletter singled out their partnership on the slower ‘Somebody Loan Me a Dime.’
The Cell Phone Man sessions
Later in 2012, Sefner played on Willie Buck’s Cell Phone Man. The backing group added Barrelhouse Chuck’s piano and guest harmonica player Bharath Rajakumar to Burgin, Kreher, Sefner, and Bass. Its sixteen-song program placed the bassist in a band assembled around Buck’s singing and the Muddy Waters tradition.
On European stages
The Rockin’ Johnny Band also took that lineup overseas. A review of the November 2013 blues festival at De Tamboer in Hoogeveen, the Netherlands, identifies Burgin and Kreher on guitars, Sefner on bass and Steve Bass on drums. The appearance carried the Chicago group’s repertoire from its home clubs to a European festival audience.
Sefner’s later recordings with Burgin continued to bring together singers and instrumentalists from the Chicago scene. On Chicago/The Blues Legends/Today!, the track-by-track personnel distinguish his work from Jeffrey LaBon’s appearances with Mary Lane. Sefner’s nine selections include both singer-led blues and performances by Burgin and harmonica player Mike Mettalia.
Chicago/The Blues Legends/Today!
Sefner reunited with Burgin for sessions in Chicago in 2016 that became Chicago/The Blues Legends/Today!, released in 2018. The project featured Mary Lane, Little Jerry Jones, Milwaukee Slim, and harmonica player Mike Mettalia. Sefner plays bass on nine tracks, including ‘Sloppy Drunk,’ ‘Midnight Call,’ ‘Smokestack Lightnin’,’ and ‘Dust My Broom,’ with Stephen Dougherty on drums.
His contributions include performances led by Milwaukee Slim, Little Jerry Jones, Mettalia, and Burgin. Jeffrey LaBon supplies the bass on Mary Lane’s selections. The record extends Sefner’s association with Burgin into a gathering of several singers, each bringing a different repertoire to the same Chicago sessions.