Gordon Bonham

Gordon Bonham -- Guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Raised in Hammond, Bonham attended Wabash College with plans to pursue a career in medicine. Instead, he moved back to Nothern Indiana so that he could become immersed in the Chicago blues scene following college graduation in 1980. In doing so, he played guitar with several local bands. In the mid 1980s, he moved to Bloomington, where he joined the Ragin' Texans; although it was early in his career, he found himself playing with well-known musicians Jim Bracken, Craig Brenner, Brian Lappin, and Kenny Aronoff. In 1988, he joined the band of Northern Indiana native Gary Primich, a blues harpsist, and toured the United States and Europe. After returning to Indiana in 1990, he led Gordon Bonham and the Rhythm Kings, followed by the Cooler Kings and eventually his current group the Gordon Bonham Blues Band. For almost the last thirty years, Bonham has been a well-known musician in Central Indiana. He often plays 200-300 shows a years, including regular appearances at the famous Slippery Noodle, where he has a weekly gig with Soul Bus. Among the local blues musicians he collaborated extensively with are Yank Rachell and John Brim. He has also either opened for or performed with Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley, Solomon Burke and B.B.King. Outside of Indy, he appeared at the Chicago Blues Fest, and he played with Robert Lockwood, Jr., and Pinetop Perkins for the opening the Cleveland Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame. At nearly any music festival in the midwest, you might find Gordon Bonham playing electric with his band or playing acoustically by himself. Throughout his career, he has played his share of blues covers, but is also known for his originals.