About Janiva Magness
Janiva Magness is an American Grammy Award nominated blues, soul, and Americana singer, songwriter, and author. To date she has released 16 albums.
The Blues Foundation named Magness the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year in 2009, becoming only the second woman, after Koko Taylor, to be so honored. The award was presented by B.B. King himself and Bonnie Raitt. In 2014 she released her second album of all originals entitled Original which earned her the award for Song of the Year. Magness has earned seven Blues Music Awards with 29 similar nominations. USA Today stated, "Magness is a blues star."
In 2019, Magness published her memoir "Weeds Like Us" and the audiobook version was released in 2022. "We get to relive her career with her, as she discovers her own talents, right up to her work with the great Dave Darling over the past decade. It's a ride that is both thrilling and heart-breaking. But the spoiler is, we know-how it ends because we know that Magness is still producing incredible music. And she's still a badass." – LA Weekly's Book of the Month, Brett Callwood. "When you're singing "The Blues," credibility is essential. You can talk the talk, but if you didn't walk the walk, people can tell. Janiva Magness has been singing the blues professionally for decades, but don't think for a minute that she didn't get to where she is now without having a struggle with hard times. And where she is now, it's a very good place: a highly regarded , award-winning singer and musician with an international following and a cache of critically well-received albums" – The Recoup, Joseph Kyle
Magness was born in Detroit, Michigan. She lost both parents to suicide before she reached her mid-teens, and was placed in a series of a dozen foster homes.
Having been initially inspired by the music in her father's record collection, an underage Magness attended an Otis Rush concert in Minneapolis that changed her outlook. Magness later recalled, "Otis played as if his life depended on it. There was a completely desperate, absolute intensity. I knew, whatever it was, I needed more of it." Studying to become an engineer, she worked in a recording studio in Saint Paul, Minnesota, when she was coerced into doing some backing singing. Her work, which included backing Kid Ramos and R. L. Burnside, led her to Phoenix, Arizona and in forming her own band, the Mojomatics. They enjoyed local success before Magness relocated in 1986 to Los Angeles. Her first album More Than Live was released in 1991, her second release titled It Takes One to Know One, was released in 1997. In 1999, Magness starred in a stage production of It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, at the David Geffen Theater in Westwood, Los Angeles.
Three independent releases followed before Magness was signed to a recording contract by NorthernBlues Music. They released Bury Him at the Crossroads and Do I Move You? . Both albums were co-produced by Magness and Colin Linden, with the former earning them both Canadian Maple Blues Award for Producers of the Year. Do I Move You? reached number 8 on the Billboard Blues Album Chart.
Map & Directions To Venue
