Mojo Power -- A Blues Powerhouse Heads to Memphis to Represent Northern Michigan

Jan. 22, 2003

For Bryan “The Boogieman” Fischer and Jon “White Lightnin‘” Archambault, both from the Charlevoix area, the past 13 years has been about a vision, a commitment to excellence, a lot of hard work and perseverance and the simple belief that if they stuck with their goals and dreams it would all pan out for them. As the founding members of Mojo & The Boogieman their dreams are now becoming reality as the group heads to Memphis, January 29 to compete in the three day Blues First Competition.
Mojo (the name of the guys in the band) & The Boogieman (the name of the lead singer) have worked hard to become one of Northern Michigan’s most popular bands. The band has become a fixture at the Turtle Creek Blues Festival each June and last year the group earned the title of “ Best Blues Band in Northern Michigan,” in the Northern Express reader’s poll.
Just how good are these guys? After all it is one thing to be good in your hometown with family and friends around but what about elsewhere?
That question was answered November 24, 2002 when Mojo competed in the Detroit Blues Soicety First Annual Detroit Blues Challenge. The band was up against some of the best blues bands Detroit had to offer and Mojo came away with the grand prize, $500, and the honor of representing Detroit and Northern Michigan in Memphis, where Mojo will compete against other top blues bands from North America that are not signed to a label deal.
“In a way it was luck that we got into the challenge in the first place considering we are from up north,” said Archambault, the group’s guitarist. “One of the Detroit Blues Society board members caught us at a wedding last summer so he invited us to play at the November board meeting. The board was so impressed that they invited us to come back in two weeks to be in the challenge and the rest is history as they say.”
Let’s face it; with Detroit’s history in the music business this was a pretty impressive win.
“These were established Detroit blues bands, not newcomers to the scene,” said Mike Rembor, Detroit Blues Society board member. “This was quite a feat by Mojo to come down from up north and beat out the best we have to offer down here.”

THE FANS KNOW
Those that have known Mojo over the years see this win as no real surprise.
“The first time I saw these guys a few years back I knew they were special, they have that something extra that other bands don’t always have, a passion, a fire in their bellies,” said Larry McCray, a Saginaw native who has climbed the ranks to become one of the top blues guitarists in the world.
McCray was so impressed with the band that he helped get them into Buddy Guy‘s club in Chicago to perform and also agreed to play on the group’s new CD.
When Mojo went into the studio last winter in Gaylord there was a mix-up with McCray’s management and when McCray hadn’t arrived by 10 p.m. there was concern. After several calls McCray was located at home getting ready to call it day (his manager had given him the wrong day to be in Gaylord). McCray jumped into his car and drove to Gaylord, arriving at 1 a.m. He spent three hours with the band in the studio laying down guitar tracks before returning to Saginaw.
Going to Memphis is an important next step for the band. Elvis went to Memphis and even B.B. King went to Memphis. The town is rich in musical history and a win at the Blues Foundation-sponsored competition means cash, a recording contract and gigs at prestigious blues festivals around the country. Plus it becomes a lifetime door opener on the blues circuit.
“Win lose or draw this is what we have been working for during the past 13 years,” said Brian “The Boogieman” Fischer. “From the beginning Jon and I have tried to develop a band in an honest way; not looking for overnight success but rather working to find like-minded musicians that are true professionals and that has finally happened and the result is we are being rewarded for those efforts.”
The group is confident and cautiously optimistic of their chances and believes that regardless of how they do in Memphis, they have already won.
“The way I see it I have already accomplished more than what I set out to do. My goal 15 years ago was simply to get through one song on the guitar,” said Archambault. “So everything else is just a gift.”

TOP GUN
While showing a sense of modesty, Archambault has become one of Michigan’s best blues guitarists. His meticulous attention to detail has mesmerized audiences and one senses that Archambault is where Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton meet. So committed to making the best music possible Archambault has subscribed to the philosophy that a great guitarist will only take a band so far and that it takes a band to make a band.
“This line-up of Mojo we currently have is what I envisioned with Brian when we started talking bands years ago,” said Archambault. “Things started to come together when Charlie joined us a couple of years ago. There is not a weakness in this band, everyone brings something to the stage every night and that is the way it should be. Equally important is that everyone believes in this band and where it is going.”
Those talented members Archambault refers to and join him and Fischer on stage include harmonica player, Charlie “Hipps” Witthoeft, bass player John “The Saint” Hefty, drummer James “Big Beat” Hunt and the group‘s newest member, keyboardist and sax player Leo “The Swami” Dombecki, who joined last September.
Dombecki has tremendous musical talent and floats between the keyboard and sax during shows. His wit keeps band members on edge, as the group never knows for sure what Dombecki might throw into the improvisational mix. During a recent show he cut into a piano solo and starting playing a melody of Christmas songs.

BACK TO LIFE
Witthoeft is a master of the harmonica and its many styles. He realizes that each night when he straps on his harmonica belt he is lucky just to be walking and living, let alone performing.
“If Jon thinks he is lucky then I am real lucky. In 1988 I was in another band and after the gig I got in a car accident. It left me in a coma for 10 days,” said Witthoeft. “Jon would come to the hospital and visit all the time, next to my family he was there for me the most. He helped me to reconnect with music. The accident left me having to relearn how to play music and for that matter how to play harmonica with plastic ribs.”
The two “elder members” bring a special component to Mojo and the rest of the band members fell that gives them a slight edge when they take the stage each night and when they arrive in Memphis.
“We definitely have ‘The Hefty Factor’ and that is a big plus,” said Dombecki. “To have a professional musician of his caliber essentially holding our hand is really making a difference. He has been there, toured the world, and been a part of the scene. He has mentored the best to come out of this area; people like Kenny Olson of Kid Rock, John “Ivan” Greilick, and Brian Schram are all where they are at today because of Hefty, so we feel blessed to have Hefty and that goes for James as well. James brings a lot to the stage and has also has seen a lot.”
Archambault is quick to agree:
“James‘ drum work is phenomenal and when he walks off the stage and into the crowd and plays on tables, bars, chairs, glasses and whatever else crosses his path the crowd goes crazy and his experience in the business is also helpful. So we are blessed in more ways than one having both these guys.”
Hefty’s response to all the praise from his band mates:
“They must have me confused with someone else, but hey if it is me they are talking about then I guess there really isn’t any need to have anyone’s photo but mine on the cover of the new CD,” said Hefty with a big laugh. “I have experienced the highs and the lows of this business and this is the first time that I am actually having fun. It really is a lot of fun to be a part of all of this and to work with these guys.”
Hefty was once a member of the famed MC5. At the age of 16 he was a member of the legendary “Hard Corps,” a group of runaways and others who hung around the infamous Grande Ballroom during the club‘s hey day in the 1960s. Hefty, not a runaway, worked as a gopher, getting an onstage seat as groups like Cream, MC 5, and The Who performed at the Grande.

THE BOOGIEMAN
It all comes full circle and back to the Boogieman, yet unlike the boogieman of our childhood days Brian Fischer isn’t scary. His soulful voice sooths listeners, yet is deep enough to allow for him to perform a range of tunes. Fischer looks and sounds like a blues singer; his stage presence and vocal talents tie it all together as he masterfully conducts Mojo and its many musical elements with perfection as the groups weaves through many solos.
Mojo has developed a their own style by blending traditional southern blues, funky R&B sounds with a Detroit blue collar rock and roll feel and a little Chicago and Texas style blues all with a northern Michigan cherry on top. They carefully combine covers with their originals when on stage bringing fans to the dance floor song after song.
Robert Farmer of the Rose Robert Agency and longtime concert promoter describe Mojo this way: “Imagine if The Who were a blues band - that’s Mojo & The Boogieman.”
The group has sold out of their CD “Keep It In Your Soul,” that features the song “I’d Never Be The Same Without You,” which received a lot of airplay on Michigan radio stations. The group plans to release a new CD this spring.
Mojo is about family and friends and it is a combination of the two that have helped get the group to where they are at today.
“We are fortunate to have so many fans, friends and family in northern Michigan,” said Fischer. “This really has made a difference over the years, especially during those times when things just didn’t make sense they were all still there for us, in our corner, pulling for us. This trip to Memphis is as much about and for them as it is for us.”
Friends and family have rallied behind the group. Twenty Charlevoix and Petoskey businesses and families bought sponsorships on a special collectors t-shirt, and the band has been selling them to help pay their way to Memphis. In addition, long time supporter Terry Left, owner of the Villager Pub in Charlevoix, organized a fundraiser at his restaurant in January with all cover charge proceeds and a portion of the evening‘s sales going to help the band.

LOOKING AHEAD
“We have been blessed here in northern Michigan but musically we have accomplished what we can here,” said Fischer. “It is not to say we don’t like it here but our supporters are telling us it is time take Mojo on the road, to share it with others and we agree. So after Memphis we plan to tour. Our goal is to go there and win. But regardless of the outcome we plan to make contacts and line up gigs. We are coming armed with promotional CD, media and marketing materials and a northern Michigan attitude.”
Archambault echoes Fischer:
“We are not looking for any quick deals out of this. We are realistic about this thing they call the music industry and are not in any hurry. Heck it has taken us 13 years to get this far, so you can say we are in this for the long haul,” said Archambault. “Look we are who we are, we are not going to sell our souls for a label deal or a touring contract, maybe our wives and children, no, no, no not them either. We are Mojo & The Boogieman, we play what we play and that is the way it will always be.”
That is the way it should be: a band playing music their way, with passion and with soul. This isn’t just a job for Mojo -- they all have day jobs -- this is about the music. It is about honoring the soul, giving praise to those that came before, and about keeping the blues torch alive. When W.C. Handy, Robert Johnson and others developed blues 100 years ago they must have had a vision that bands like Mojo would come around, six guys that really get it. Good luck Mojo and let Memphis have it; let them know that Northern Michigan knows its blues.