Johnny Sansone

Early life and education Born in Orange, New Jersey, Sansone was raised in nearby West Orange, and attended West Orange High School, where he took up swimming.

His father had played the saxophone in Dave Brubeck's band during World War II, and by the time he was age 12, his son had learned to play the saxophone, guitar and harmonica and seen Howlin' Wolf in concert. He later studied blues harmonica playing by studying both Junior Wells and James Cotton. He left New Jersey in 1975 on a swimming scholarship at a college in Colorado.

Career Sansone toured in the 1980s supporting Robert Lockwood, Jr., David "Honeyboy" Edwards and Jimmy Rogers. The resultant recording, Crescent City Moon (1997), was mainly his own work; although it included a cover version of Ted Hawkins' "Sweet Baby", which featured Sonny Landreth playing slide guitar. The collection included liner notes from Greg "Fingers" Taylor. It received widespread critical approval and several awards,

Sansone lost momentum in the early 2000s, although he continued to perform in various musical ensembles, as well as working during the week in construction.

In 2005, Sansone joined the Voice of the Wetlands Allstars (which variously incorporated Dr. John, Cyril Neville, Monk Boudreaux, Johnny Vidacovich, Anders Osborne, George Porter Jr., Waylon Thibodeaux, and Tab Benoit), who were interested in promoting local environmental issues. The band became a regular feature at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Having to vacate his home in the legacy of Hurricane Katrina, Sansone continued to tour and perform with the Voice of the Wetlands Allstars, wherein he befriended Anders Osborne. In 2009, Sansone played the accordion on Mike Zito's album, Pearl River.

By then playing in another acoustic trio setting, this time with Osborne and Fohl, Sansone was inspired to write the track, "The Lord Is Waiting and The Devil Is Too". It turned in to the title track of his 2011 album, and won the 'Song of the Year' title at the 2012 Blues Music Awards. It provided a release from the stresses of a marital break-up, and the record's producer Osborn pushed Sansone's music towards a more commercial, rock influenced, direction. In October 2012, Sansone performed at the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, and in December that year, Sansone appeared at the inaugural Bradenton Blues Festival.

After a couple of live album releases, Sansone's next studio based creation was Once It Gets Started (2013).

Influences Sansone's major influence was his fellow blues musician and songwriter, Jimmy Reed.