The Best Damn Concerts In Memphis Are From a One Man Band:

Richard Johnston, Rockin' the Lowebow

He studied under R. L. Burnside and Jesse Mae Hemphill.  He was a regular at Junior Kimbrough's juke joint for two years before it burned down.  Since then, Richard Johnston has been holding court  in Memphis as one of the best blues bands you've ever heard.

And he's the only member of the band...

Johnston is so good, you'd think he was an all-encompassing blues robot created by the government to win the Cold War.  He has a full drum kit at his feet, playing intense shuffles as he handles both bass and guitar on his double-neck Lowebow cigar box guitar.  On top of all that, the guy can sing.  Mercy!

The story behind the cigar box guitar: In 2001, Johnston walked into Xanadu Music and Books in Memphis and saw owner, John Lowe messing with a double-neck cigar box guitar.  Lowe said he built it to create feedback soundscapes and the guitar only sported a single string on each neck.  Johnston saw promise in the guitar and asked Lowe to build him a similar cigar box guitar, but asked him to bring the necks close together.  He also said to string it with a bass string and a couple guitar strings. 

Lowe got to working and soon created the first Lowebow (aka the John Lowe diddley bow). 

Anatomy of a Lowebow:

Within two weeks of picking up his Lowebow, Richard Johnston entered the 2001 International Blues Challenge and won.

Johnston recorded the album, Hill Country Stomp soon after.  You can hear all the tracks on his website.  He was also the subject of Max Shores' 2006 documentary, Hill Country Troubadour.  (See the trailer and info here.)

Although Johnston toured the world, thrilling audiences wherever he went, his best shows are still in Memphis.  You can find him playing the Deep Blue Jook Joint Studio.  Tourists and locals alike crowd around and join his party, grooving to the Hill Country trance blues he belts out.

And the Lowebow cigar box guitars are still in production, built one-at-a-time by John Lowe and sold thru his store, Xanadu Music and Books in Memphis.