Jontavious Willis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jontavious Willis
Jontavious Willis at Chicago Blues Festival in 2023
Background information
Born	1996 (age 28–29) Greenville, Georgia, United States
Genres	Country blues
Occupation(s)	Singer, guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, harmonica, banjo
Years active	2014–present
Associated acts	Keb' Mo', Taj Mahal

Jontavious Willis (born 1996) is an American musician. He is a singer, guitarist, songwriter, and can play many instruments. Jontavious is famous for his country blues music.

He has released three albums so far. His second album, Spectacular Class, was very popular. It reached number 12 on the Billboard Blues Albums Chart in May 2019. Two well-known blues musicians, Keb' Mo' and Taj Mahal, have helped Jontavious in his music career.

Jontavious Willis's Story

Jontavious Willis was born in Greenville, Georgia, in the United States. When he was growing up, he sang gospel music with his grandfather. They sang at their local church, Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church.

Discovering the Blues

When Jontavious was 14 years old, he became very interested in blues music. He learned to play many different kinds of country blues. These included Delta, Piedmont, and Texas styles.

He became very skilled at playing the guitar. He learned to play in different ways, like fingerpicking (using fingers to pluck strings), flatpicking (using a pick), and slide playing (using a slide on the strings). As a teenager, he taught himself to play more instruments. Besides the guitar, Jontavious also learned to play the harmonica and the five-string banjo. He later studied sociology and anthropology at Columbus State University.

Big Opportunities

In 2015, Jontavious got a huge chance to show his talent. The famous musician Taj Mahal invited him to play on stage. After their performance, Taj Mahal called Jontavious his "Wonderboy."

This special moment helped Jontavious get noticed. He started performing at music festivals. In April 2017, he released his first album, Blue Metamorphosis, on his own. This album received good reviews from music magazines. It also won the 'Best Self-Produced CD Award' at the International Blues Challenge in 2018.

Working with Legends

In 2017, Keb' Mo' and Taj Mahal released a joint album called TajMo. This album won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 2018. Jontavious Willis was chosen to be the opening act for their tour. This meant he played before the two famous blues musicians on many of their concert dates.

On April 5, 2019, Jontavious released his second album, Spectacular Class. Taj Mahal was the executive producer, and Keb' Mo' was the producer. The album had ten songs, all written by Jontavious. He sang and played acoustic guitar on the album. Spectacular Class became very successful. It reached number 12 on the Billboard Blues Albums Chart in May 2019. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2020.

Since 2019, Jontavious has been touring a lot. He has played concerts in the United States, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

Music Albums

See also

• List of country blues musicians