THE SONS OF ILLINOIS are a dynamic, South-East (of England) based band, committed to delivering an exciting variety of CHICAGO BLUES material that ENTERTAINS the folks out front!
Junior Marks: Vocals & Harmonica.
Ben Needham: Lead Guitar.
Guy Weir: Rhythm Guitar.
Dave Raven: Upright Bass.
Mike Sutcliffe: Drums.
Junior Marks (Lead Vocals and Harmonicas) - Junior’s blues odyssey began as a schoolboy, with clandestine raids on his father's vinyl record collection from where he first became transfixed by the emotion and power of the Blues. One recording in particular, ‘Goin’ Back Home’ by Lightnin’ Hopkins, had a deeply profound impact on the young Junior and those "borrowed" records sparked a schoolboy obsession, specifically with the sound of the harmonica, that would shape his entire musical identity. Junior’s early experimentation with blues harmonica (or ‘harp’) involved him waiting for his parents to be out at work, then playing along to records by Sonny Boy Williamson II and Muddy Waters through a cheap microphone plugged into the family hi-fi system—this resulted in "shredded" speaker cones and understandable parental displeasure, but it also revealed the gloriously dirty, overdriven sound of amplified harmonica that would become Junior's signature sound.
Years of dedication to the Blues genre also drove Junior to become a “downright crazy” collector of original US and UK vinyl records of the Chicago Blues masters; he now has a huge archive that allows him to draw deep inspiration from fantastically authentic and obscure sources!
Decades of ‘noodling’ has resulted in Junior’s high proficiency on both the diatonic and chromatic harmonicas—the former being the 'weapon' of choice for legends including Sonny Boy Williamson II and Junior Wells, while the latter instrument was favoured by wizards such as Little Walter, George Smith, James Cotton and George 'Mojo' Buford.
While citing Sonny Boy and Wells as the primary influences on his playing and singing, Junior freely admits to being "affected or infected" by virtually every great blues harmonica player to have graced the planet. The founding member of THE SONS OF ILLINOIS, his early career included prestigious support slots for The (Paul Jones) Blues Band and chart-topping Alison Moyet during her jazz/blues period.
Today, Junior interlaces his vocal duties with the sound of his custom Hohner and Seydel harmonicas, played through vintage Shure and Astatic microphones and amplified through his custom-built Marble 'Harpmaster' amplifier.