While a prophet may have no honor in his hometown, the sweet-singing guitar player done-good always deserves a hero’s welcome. At the Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls last Thursday night, Mexico City-based troubadour Johnny Delaware got exactly that.
Striding up to the mic, shaking back his chestnut locks, Johnny smiled at the crowd and asked with a wink, “Lennox High School! How we doin’?!”
They were doing just fine. Drinks were flowing. Baby-sitters were arranged. And though most kids from Johnny’s class of two-thousand-and-something had chosen a more responsible path, everyone was back to celebrate. For one night, they could come together and embark on a vicarious adventure through Johnny’s well-traveled tunes. Everyone. Even the Homecoming Queen.
Johnny Delaware, originally of Lennox, SD, chose his home turf to kick off an acoustic solo tour. He’ll be on the road through the Midwest and south, eventually winding his way back to Charleston, SC. There he’ll grab his electric guitar and jump back in the van with his other band, Susto, a hard-touring Southern/Indie Rock outfit.
Thursday’s show also helped launch the Orion Pub, a brand-new, but decidedly old-school watering hole. Proudly described as a “dive bar,” The Orion Pub looks and feels like a place your grandpa might have holed up for a few rounds after punching the clock. With the sold-out success of the Johnny Delaware show, expect to see more concerts announced soon.
Johnny’s had an interesting life. He tried Nashville, then Albuquerque, toured the world, got a song in a Nissan commercial, and eventually landed in Mexico City just as Covid was threatening to lock everyone, especially touring musicians, down.
“I got a call from my friend who’s an archeologist down there,” Johnny says. “He digs up pyramids and invited me down to help right when the pandemic thing started happening. I didn’t end up digging up pyramids, but I loved Mexico City. I found my girlfriend there, we got a wiener dog, and I still live there. It’s such a good vibe.”
Somehow between the constant gigs, Johnny’s finding time to work on two more solo albums, including the upcoming Heartlander.
“It’s a concept album,” he says. “It’s about growing up in South Dakota, the people I’ve come across, their stories, and the things that I’ve seen. I’ll remember a little glimmer from my childhood. I’ll pick up a cup of coffee and just flash back to something from when I was a kid. It’s like, whoa, where did that come from?”
Johnny’s been collecting these memories – the classmate who fought leukemia, the fireworks display gone wrong, the late nights prowling for small-town fun – and is weaving them into new songs. “I’m really excited about it,” he says. “Those flashback are really inspiring.”
Wrapping up the show with a begged-for encore, Johnny brought it all back home with an unreleased track, “Eighteen,” from the new album.
But the night was far from over for this guy. He took a moment to bask in the irreplaceable heart-felt old-friend whoops and cheers all around him, and smiled once again into the mic: “Alright everybody … let’s hang out!”
Note: The original version of this story appeared on SoDakMusic.com. It’s archived here for my personal reference, and of course, your future enjoyment.
