Lakota John

October 19, 2020
“Pembroke’s Lakota John Locklear is a prodigious blues guitarist of Lumbee and Lakota lineage.” – Indy Week.

Lakota John is an old soul with a love for music. He is a talented guitarist/vocalist, from Southeastern North Carolina, who grew up listening to his dad’s music library. At 6 years old he picked up harmonica, and at age 7 guitar. LJ learned to play guitar left-handed, in standard tuning, and was intrigued by the sound of the slide guitar. At age 10, he bought himself a glass slide, placed it on his pinky finger, and he has been sliding over the frets ever since.

Lakota John blends styles of the Roots, Blues, Rock & Jazz with slide guitar, banjo, piano and mandolin. He adds in a bit of harmonica, and mixes in part of his Indigenous heritage with sounds of the Native American flute. LJ received two scholarships in 2008 and 2009 to attend Centrum’s Acoustic Blues Festival in Port Townsend, WA. There he participated in a week of guitar workshops and jam sessions, learning in the classrooms of the blues masters John Cephas, Phil Wiggins, among others. In 2009, this guitar prodigy joined the Music Maker Relief Foundation, performing locally as one of their Next Generation Artists, alongside elder Bluesmen. He has had multiple performances at many venues, including the NC Museum of History, The PineCone Music Series, Shakori Hills Music Festival, and the North Carolina Indian Heritage Celebration. Lakota John continues to learn, alongside master musicians, to broaden his musical abilities, while incorporating sounds of American Music.

Lakota John released his first album, “Old Bluez That’s Newz to Me,” in 2009. In 2013, Lakota John & Kin released a self-titled album. In 2017 Lakota John released a solo album, called “The Winds of Time,” on the International Artists label. Currently he is working on a new solo album, with Mark Andersen, to be released in 2020.

Lakota John nominated for an American Music Awards for Best Blues Recording, and recently, LJ won a Carolina Music Award in the Best Americana/Bluegrass Category. He won first place in the 2019 Road to Memphis PBPS Blues Challenge Solo/Duo Competition.

Lakota has opened for, or shared the stage with, renowned Native artists Pura Fe, Blues icon Taj Mahal, Native American Blues Rocker Keith Secola, American Songster Dom Flemons, to name a few. He tours nationally and internationally, including selected performances at the John F. Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., performances in San Bernardino CA, Albuquerque and Santa Fe NM, and a recent tour in Italy, Switzerland, and Canada.

“Lakota John is already a skilled guitarist, perfectly mastering Piedmont blues fingerpicking and slide guitar. But what is even more impressive is his voice, so raspy and powerful it seems to be an old bluesman’s!” – SoulBag Mag France

Playlist

Artist (Song) Album

1. 1. NIMKISH (DIAMONDS LIE) HEARTBREAK ON THE COAST
   2. DAKOTA BEAR (FREEDOM)
   3. ILA BAKER (I’M FINE)
   4. MIKE BERN (BURN THIS TOWN) WAPONAHKEW
   5. LAKOTA JOHN (BACK IN MY HEART)
   6. LAKOTA JOHN (TOGETHER AT HOME)
   7. LAKOTA JOHN (WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE)
   8. CELEIGH CARDINAL (THE DEVIL IS A BLUE-EYED MAN) STORIES FROM A DOWNTOWN APARTMENT
   9. ANTOINE EDWARDS FEAT. OSO CURTIS (WORK)