A place in Chicago's working blues community
Mojo Mark Cihlar’s musical activities include both guitar accompaniment and harmonica work. In July 2010, he played harmonica behind Tail Dragger on “Smokestack Lightnin’,” alongside guitarists Kevin Shanahan and Rockin’ Johnny.
A longtime associate of Eddie C. Campbell, Cihlar organized a benefit in Westmont in December 2013 following Campbell’s stroke. The announced lineup included Campbell, Willie Buck, Tail Dragger, Rockin’ Johnny and other local musicians.
Recording and festival guitar work
Cihlar is credited with rhythm guitar on Big Pete’s Choice Cuts, released by Delta Groove in 2011. The album gathered a large group of blues musicians, including Kim Wilson, Rusty Zinn, Alex Schultz and Kirk Fletcher.
At the Phoenix Blues Society’s 2014 Blues Blast festival, Cihlar played guitar with the Rhythm Room All-Stars. That lineup included Corritore on harmonica, Chris James on guitar, Patrick Rynn on bass and Brian Fahey on drums. Sugaray Rayford joined during the set.
Harmonica, singing and guest appearances
In June 2019, Cihlar played harmonica with Tail Dragger in Kenosha, with Shanahan on lead and slide guitar, Merle Perkins on drums and Heather Falduto on bass.
Cihlar has also appeared with the Riblickers as a guest singer and guitarist.
An archival performance reaches Oh Yeah!
Cihlar’s guitar appears on “Went Home This Morning,” included on Willie Buck and Bob Corritore’s Oh Yeah! in 2025. He shares guitar duties with Jon Atkinson, while Troy Sandow plays bass and Brian Fahey drums. Buck’s singing and Corritore’s harmonica lead the performance. Its release brought another part of Cihlar’s session work into circulation alongside the more recent recordings assembled for the album.
Harmonica with Eddie C. Campbell
Cihlar plays harmonica on four selections from Eddie C. Campbell’s 2009 Delmark album Tear This World Up: the opening track and tracks five, seven and eleven. The band also includes bassist Dario Golliday, drummer Marty Binder and keyboard players Karl “Lil Daddy” Outten and Marty Sammon, with horns on selected songs.
That album documents his work with Campbell several years before the Westmont benefit he organized. It also provides a useful contrast with his rhythm-guitar credit on Big Pete’s Choice Cuts. Harmonica and guitar were both parts of his professional work, with the instrument changing according to the artist and session.
A song from the vaults
“Went Home This Morning” reached listeners on Oh Yeah! as part of Corritore’s From the Vaults series. The release brought together Buck performances made at different sessions rather than presenting one newly assembled studio band. Cihlar’s guitar belongs to the lineup with Atkinson, Sandow and Fahey on that particular selection.
His appearances with Campbell, Tail Dragger and Corritore put him in several overlapping Chicago blues circles. The benefit he organized for Campbell also brought that community together away from an ordinary club booking: musicians contributed their work in support of a fellow performer after a serious illness.