Lakota John is a musician, producer and songwriter from Southeastern, North Carolina. Influenced by his dads music collection, he picked up the guitar at 7 years old and learned to play left-handed as well as slide guitar in standard tuning. Lakota John blends styles of Folk, Blues, Rock & Jazz with various instruments while mixing in part of his Indigenous heritage with sounds of the Native American flute.  

LJ received two scholarships in 2008 and 2009 to attend Centrum’s Acoustic Blues Festival in Port Townsend, WA.  There he participated in a week of guitar workshops and jam sessions, learning in the classrooms of blues masters. In 2009 he began working with Music Maker Relief Foundation, performing as one of their Next Generation Artists. While learning alongside older Bluesmen, Lakota John began to broaden his musical abilities, while incorporating sounds of American Music.

Lakota John released his first album, “Old Bluez That’s Newz to Me,” in 2009. In 2013, Lakota John & Kin released a self-titled album. In 2017 Lakota John released a solo album, called “The Winds of Time,” on the International Artists label. 

 LJ was nominated for an American Music Award for Best Blues Recording. He won a Carolina Music Award in the Best Americana/Bluegrass Category, as well as first place in the 2019 Road to Memphis PBPS Blues Challenge Solo/Duo Competition.

Lakota has opened for, or shared the stage with Joe Bonamassa, Jimmy Vivino, Josh Smith, Native artists Pura Fe, Cary Morin, Keith Secola, American Songster Dom Flemons, and Taj Mahal to name a few. He tours nationally and internationally, including selected performances at the John F. Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., in addition to repeated performances throughout the world.