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<\/p>\nBy Ed Spinelli<\/p>\n
Under normal circumstances, I get assigned to photograph concerts in Chicago and the surrounding areas, but lately with the current pandemic situation, there are no normal circumstances. All the upcoming concerts on my calendar are steadily getting cancelled, and I pretty much expect the rest of 2020 to be a complete bust. The last concert I covered was on February 1st of this year at a weekend blues festival with Chicago\u2019s own Toronzo Cannon ending the main day of the fest. When I was asked to submit something to In The Loop Magazine, I thought about my last show and how many years (haha) ago it was. I wanted to hunt down Toronzo and chat about this new world we live in and how quickly everything changed in just two and a half short months. It took a little bit of organizing, but the two of us met at a forest preserve on a gorgeous day.<\/p>\n
The area was pretty crowded with hikers and bikers, but social distancing was definitely in full swing. We hung out for a few of hours first taking photos, and then sat down for a chat. I found Cannon to be an extremely genuine man who is very passionate about his music and even more so about his life. And when he talks about his daughter, his face lights up with a smile that can melt your heart.<\/p>\n
By day Cannon\u2019s a CTA bus driver (and has been for 27 years) and by night he is loading in and out of venues to feed us the blues. You may recognize him by his signature Chicago stars and stripes that he proudly displays at any given chance. Though he doesn\u2019t have an official title to the city I could see him being Ambassador to Chicago someday.<\/p>\n
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Ed Spinelli, In The Loop Magazine: So you have a new album that came out late 2019?<\/p>\n
Toronzo Cannon: Yeah, it came out in September. Called \u201cThe Preacher, The Politician, or the Pimp.\u201d It was doing pretty good when I was working. But this whole pandemic thing came down and kind of put a stifle on everything. The lifespan of this CD is already pretty much over, so I\u2019m going to start writing new songs. Even though these are, in my opinion great songs, and thoughtful, I think once we start touring again it\u2019ll be a whole new world and strange and maybe not as many people coming out. People are going to be gun shy, like \u201cI don\u2019t know if I wan to go to a big crowd of people.\u201d We\u2019ll see what happens when they open up the city. I\u2019m hoping if they come out with a vaccine that will ease a lot of people\u2019s minds. I just know it\u2019s going to be hard to play in front of crowds again and travel like we used to. We\u2019re not essential workers. I mean, we\u2019re essential for the soul and living and people who love music but not a front line worker. I was planning on retiring from the bus this year, I\u2019ve been there for 27 years, you need 26 to retire, but now for insurance purposes I\u2019ve got to keep driving the bus. I didn\u2019t even know I was an essential worker until they were like \u201cyou\u2019ve got to keep coming to work.\u201d But I\u2019m very grateful to have a job through this whole pandemic. But yeah, my CD. \u201cThe Preacher, The Politician, the Pimp.\u201d They\u2019ve all got the gift of words and how to make people do things against their best interests.<\/p>\n
ES: It\u2019s very fortunate that you have this income. But the rest of your band members, do they have day jobs? How are they surviving?<\/p>\n
TC: No, a couple of them have wives and girlfriends who are still working. Other than that, I did a PayPal thing with the band before the whole shut down and it was a pretty penny. I split it because half the income I normally get, I\u2019m not getting anymore either. So no more guitars for me for a while. [Laughs] But yeah, I don\u2019t know how they\u2019re doing it.<\/p>\n
ES: Is there any type of public aid out there for musicians?<\/p>\n
TC: Yeah, Joe Bonamassa mailed me a letter the other day about a fund helping musicians asking for donations. I guess it\u2019s a lottery of sorts and I sent that to my band members. They\u2019re going to help musicians through a lottery, like $500 gas cards and like $1000 for whatever, like maybe late bills. It depends on the companies too, man. Some of these companies have to be more forgiving too when they know no one is working.<\/p>\n
ES: Do you like the mayor of Chicago, how she\u2019s handling things?<\/p>\n
TC: She\u2019s trying her best, man, but you\u2019ve got bunch of hard-headed people who want to do what they want until they get sick. They\u2019re like \u201cthese are my rights.\u201d I understand cabin fever and all that, but she\u2019s been a little more vocal than previous mayors. Rahm Emmanuel knew of me and I did some things for him, he gave me a personal call one time. But I think he had to be mad for anything to go down. But I think Lightfoot is doing the best she can with what she\u2019s got. She\u2019s very vocal and she seems like a strong-willed woman, which is cool. Shake it up a little bit. I don\u2019t see any harm in what she\u2019s asking people to do. I mean, who wants to suffer like New York? I think sometimes America is too moral. Star showing them body bags, a bunch of body bags like this is what we\u2019re faced with, this is what\u2019s going on. Then people will be shocked, because people aren\u2019t shocked any more.<\/p>\n
ES: Yeah, what\u2019s even real anymore?<\/p>\n
TC: You\u2019ve got heads of state saying to sacrifice your elderly and old for the economy. People keep pushing the envelope until it falls off the table. Who would think sacrifice the old and elderly citizens, who have paid their dues and a bunch of taxes? Now in a pandemic, you\u2019re saying go out and work for the government\u2019s sake. I don\u2019t get how people can say that and how there\u2019s a certain percentage of people who can agree with that. Then they turn around and talk about third-world countries and how they don\u2019t love their people and how they killed their own people. But what are you doing to your own people? How can you say that about other countries when you\u2019re doing the same thing?<\/p>\n
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ITLC: With today\u2019s divisiveness, do you think twice before you speak up?<\/p>\n
TC: That\u2019s part of the problem, people don\u2019t want to talk about hard things that happen to other taxpaying citizens. And when it comes to black-American and white-American and Asian-American and Latino-American, etc. And the stuff that we\u2019ve been saying for years about police brutality, like the thing that happened with the jogger. These people thought they could tell this guy to stop. \u201cDude, I\u2019m jogging!\u201d Where do the balls come from? And then they\u2019ve got guns so he\u2019s fighting for his life. Even if it\u2019s not a racial thing, it looks like a racial thing. It\u2019s not a human thing. You don\u2019 tell someone to stop unless they\u2019re on fire! But as far as me thinking twice, I used to think that maybe I\u2019m being too strong. But then I\u2019m thinking, my feelings are being hurt and I\u2019m being disrespected and disregarded every day. And if nobody knows about my feelings, nobody knows about my feelings. But you have to let people know what\u2019s going on. I mean believe me, I work on the West Side of Chicago, so I see thugs, I see drug deals going down, I see the whole thing, and I don\u2019t like that about black people and I wish they could shape themselves up. But that\u2019s not the only narrative. But if you go to a place where there\u2019s poor white people, like trailer parks, there are drugs running rampant there too. But people don\u2019t see that side of life. But when it comes to me thinking twice about what I\u2019ve got to say, this is a matter of life and death now, so why should I shut up until I get pulled over by a police officer or shot in a black neighborhood where the conditions are so poor because people are so desperate for money? So why should I shut up about something that concerns my life? I don\u2019t want to die in the black community, I don\u2019t want to die at police hands, and I don\u2019t want to die in the white community just jogging down the street. So when I say something about it, don\u2019t get offended or wonder why I\u2019m talking about it. I\u2019m not just yelling stuff off the roof just to start shit. So if I offend you, that\u2019s on you, not on me I\u2019m just saying how I see it from this side. But if you\u2019re telling me I\u2019m messing up my fan base, I don\u2019t want anybody with that kind of backwards thinking to be a fan. If you\u2019re a racist I don\u2019t want you to be a fan of mine. I\u2019m not doing Beyonce numbers! I don\u2019t want that racism stuff around me, black or white. And this goes back to the Blues. The Blues has always been message music. The slaves weren\u2019t allowed to read, so if you wanted to tell someone something while you were in the fields, you sang it and the overseer just thought they were singing or whatever. But the Blues in my opinion has always been message music, not just about my woman left me or whatever.<\/p>\n
ES: Do you think the pandemic was handled right from the start?<\/p>\n
TC: Nope, there\u2019s proof he said it was a hoax. And if there\u2019s a misunderstanding of who \u201che\u201d is, he is the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. He said it was a hoax, and then he said he was occupied with the impeachment. C\u2019mon man. You just banned the WHO people from doing what they need to do. This is all documented, it\u2019s not just I heard, I heard. Just look on YouTube, and he\u2019s saying it. He said it was a hoax, and he\u2019s just worried about his election. And there\u2019s a saying that if white people catch a cold, black Americans catch the flu. That\u2019s an old saying. In the beginning black people were like \u201cwe\u2019ve got melanin, we can\u2019t get it!\u201d I don\u2019t know where they got that from. And then all of the sudden, people forgot about pre-existing conditions and food desserts and how we\u2019re not the healthiest eaters in the world, and diabetes, and once that virus gets you and gets to your lungs. Now a bunch of black people are getting it because of conditions and how we eat and not getting healthy food because that\u2019s another thing Trump overturned that Michelle Obama did, fresh food in low-income neighborhoods. He cut that. If that\u2019s not a certain amount of evil and spitefulness. We\u2019re only 13% of the nation. There are more poor white people than poor black people. So he\u2019s hurting white people too. Like when McConnell talks about the red states and the blue states, I thought we were America. Aren\u2019t we the United States of America? United. But to go back to what you said about losing my fanbase and stuff, a lot of people think I\u2019m not even qualified to speak on matters of America. Because in some people\u2019s eyes, we\u2019re babies, we\u2019re insignificant and we don\u2019t contribute. But I pay taxes. You find out the character of some people during pandemics. It doesn\u2019t create character, it shows character, something like that. But you find out how people are. Like the guy who runs to the store and buys all of the hand sanitizer so he can make a profit. Like, dude that\u2019s some scavenger shit. Just take what you need. But that\u2019s the mentality of people, they need to make a buck. And if it comes to you dying for me to make a buck.<\/p>\n
ES: Would you have felt this way 4.5 years ago? Or have we gone backwards a little?<\/p>\n
TC: It was clearly not about politics at one point. I could see democrats not liking republicans and vice versa, but when it came to hanging effigy and talking about go back to Africa, and \u201cOh my God Michelle Obama showed her arms!\u201d This first lady showed her vagina! And then you try to rationalize with them, she was naked. And now you\u2019re saying she\u2019s the best first lady we\u2019ve ever had? How can you reason with a person like that? How can you reason with a person like that? Just because Michelle showed her arms and this lady did lesbian (nothing wrong with being lesbian, by the way) shoots, and her parents were fast-tracked here, and you\u2019re telling other people to wait in line? How do I turn my back on someone that delusional?<\/p>\n
ES: How\u2019s your daughter handling this pandemic?<\/p>\n
TC: She\u2019s a little upset. Imagine a little 18-year-old girl, 17 at the time. Buys her prom dress, two weeks later, then hit with the pandemic. She\u2019s graduating from the number four school in the city, Whitney Young, good grades, and she\u2019s making all these plans. So she buys her dress, and two weeks later the whole thing goes down where you have to stay home.\u00a0\u00a0 And now there\u2019s no graduation. And now her memories during this whole pandemic time are just gone. But she\u2019s doing the work and fulfilling the home-schooling requirements and all that stuff.<\/p>\n
ES: I wanted to ask you, who were some of your guitar heroes growing up? Some of the stuff you listened to?<\/p>\n
TC: Well I started late, man, I was in my twenties when I got my first guitar.\u00a0\u00a0 But I\u2019ve been a fan of music for years. My brother would bring in rock records, like Devo and Peter Brown, which was kind of Funk. He also had Ohio Players and Donna Summer, and David Bowie and Blue-Eyed Soul Brothers, and I listened to WVON and WJPC back when they had house music and all that stuff. So I\u2019ve always been a fan of music. And now that I hear music in a different way other than just dancing to it, I\u2019m like, \u201cMan, if I would\u2019ve been a guitar player then!\u201d But who knows if I would\u2019ve been anything, I could\u2019ve just been a cat just trying to get hired at CTA, you know, just thinking I can do this for a living. But I think things happen for a reason, that I picked it up at the time that I did. And people don\u2019t believe me, but John Cougar was an inspiration, when he was John Cougar. Now he\u2019s John Mellencamp.<\/p>\n
ES: I don\u2019t know if many people would admit that.<\/p>\n
TC: Yeah, well again, I just listen to anything. Bob Marley, John Cougar, I remember Paul Simon in 1986 when he won album of the year with Graceland. I would listen to all of that stuff. Kaja Goo Goo, the Fix, Pebbles, which was Baby Face\u2019s wife, you know, Natalie Ko. I\u2019m a 70s\/80s baby, so Chaka Khan was one of my first loves. If I can say this in a clean way, she could still get it. She\u2019s Chaka, baby! But I digress. I\u2019ve always loved music. My sister, she got my first guitar because she was practicing piano, so she was running around he house like, \u201cHey, do you want to play an instrument?\u201d And reggae was big then, and I was listening to Bob Marley, the Police, that was my nickname. Sting was my nickname. But man, John Cougar. If I ever met him, I would give him a hug like he just came home from the army. He was one of the guys that just got me thinking about guitar, you know? And then you go to Jams, because there were no reggae jams, and that\u2019s how I got into Blues jams even though I was listening to it as a kid. It wasn\u2019t Blues, it was the music I grew up to, my grandparents\u2019 music. Like Muddy Waters, or Al Green, or whatever the case is. And then I just kind of started taking on and listening to Cats Albert Collins and Elmore James, and you know, Buddy Guy, Lonnie, all those guys. Albert King, all the three kings. And I just tried to go to jams every week and get with like-minded people as far as music.<\/p>\n
ES: And that changed everything?<\/p>\n
TC: It did. I met a guy named Tom McCracken. And I wasn\u2019t thinking globally with music, I was just going to jams, and you try to get a couple of gigs in the neighborhood or on the circuit. I wasn\u2019t even thinking about the music being played over the seas. But I played with a guy named Tommy McCracken, and he said, \u201cYou got your passport?\u201d And I had been working for CTA for two years, I went and got an expedited passport, which took three weeks, supposed to be playing Brazil. A couple of weeks later, Tommy said, \u201cWe\u2019re not going to Brazil, the gig fell through.\u201d So I\u2019m mad, I\u2019m like, what am I doing with this damn passport? About four years later, Kenny comes to me at Harlem Avenue. He goes, \u201cYou got a passport kid?\u201d \u201cYeah.\u201d \u201cYou wanna go to Latvia?\u201d \u201cLatvia?\u201d I said, \u201cOk, alright.\u201d I went to Riga, and everybody was so gracious. At that time, Latvia wasn\u2019t with the Euro. When you walk in the club, it\u2019s like you walked in a south side club, you hear Bobby Blue Bland, in Latvia! It was two shows, a weekend, left Thursday I was back Monday. But it was so cool, I\u2019ve been there three times. I\u2019ve learned a lot from traveling, and traveling and being a musician has been very helpful in my understanding of world stuff.<\/p>\n
ES: My next question would be what\u2019s next for you, but I guess it\u2019s hard to really know isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
TC: Yeah, I think there\u2019s going to be a lot of changing of let\u2019s say the guard. A lot of people who had momentum are going to lose momentum, people who did this for a living are going to change their minds. I think America and other countries have a Boogieman now, and if we have the wrong people if office and the wrong people who are supposed to be looking out for your best interest, they can use that Boogieman any time they want to shut your city or whatever down. So I think a lot of musicians and other people will be looking in other industries for job security because they can put this virus in our face any time they want to shut our shit own. And it\u2019s scary to know our lives are in the balance and subject to whatever, I mean they always are, but when you see everyone\u2019s lives in the balance and still get notices about cutting off your water or cutting off your whatever, that\u2019s kind of like how a couple of queens cut their heads cut off. But my thing is just to keep my face out there and just to keep chopping away and letting people know that we\u2019re still doing Blues. I\u2019m trying to keep a visual presence with my fans and people that like my music and just keep a visual presence until this whole thing is over and then try to capitalize on that. It\u2019s going to even the playing field for a lot of people.<\/p>\n
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ES: It\u2019s like there will be less bands out there, but there will also be less clubs.<\/p>\n
TC: Less clubs, more clubs and owners saying, \u201cWell, we don\u2019t know if we\u2019ll get this many people in so we can only give you this much money, take it or leave it.\u201d There will be a lot of wheeling and dealing going on. Stuff that musicians used to get, we\u2019re not going to get for a while until people come out and support the music. So those guarantees that we\u2019ve been getting that were nice, you find out you\u2019re worth nothing now. Everybody\u2019s worth has gone down because you\u2019re not playing. We haven\u2019t played in what, six weeks now? I think my last gig was at Fitzgerald\u2019s on March 13, and he had hand sanitizer and all that stuff too.<\/p>\n
ES: Was that under the new ownership?<\/p>\n
TC: It was.<\/p>\n
ES: Can you imagine that, man? Just taking that place over?<\/p>\n
TC: I\u2019m doing something with him on the back of a truck on May 26th<\/sup> or May 23rd<\/sup>. On the back of a pickup truck, we\u2019re going to go around to different neighborhoods and play like two songs at each corner. It\u2019s sad, it\u2019s motivational, but you know now you\u2019ve got to think outside the box. What can you do?<\/p>\n ES: Sort of like starting over.<\/p>\n TC: Yeah. But to go back to my original statement, this album is pretty much over I think. And all of my old songs, my Dellmark songs, I\u2019m doing those acoustic. I\u2019ve got over like 50 songs that I\u2019ve written that are mine. I\u2019m doing this Battle of the Blues Lyricist on Facebook, it\u2019s a battle of the songwriters to keep my face out there.<\/p>\n ES: And to keep your chops up, right?<\/p>\n TC: To keep my chops up and to further the blues genre when it comes to songwriting. Cuz it\u2019s been hard! It\u2019s been hard to find people to write their own music. People are always like, \u201cI write songs.\u201d Okay, do you have it on CD? \u201cNo, but I write songs.\u201d But the idea to sell CDs has been looking at you for the past six weeks. To maybe get your face out there so your fans can see you talk intimately about your music or about this or about that or whatever, you know? So that\u2019s my little side, not hustle, I\u2019m not getting paid for it. But just something to keep my mind out there and to help the genre.<\/p>\n ES: And not only that, but you\u2019re bringing pleasure to people while we\u2019re basically in a depression. If you think about the depression years ago, at least you could go see music if you wanted to. But who would\u2019ve thought we\u2019d get stuck in our fucking homes.<\/p>\n TC: Thank God for Facebook and Zoom and all these social media outlets.<\/p>\n ES: Well it was great talking to you, thank you!<\/p>\n For more on Toronzo Cannon, click here<\/a><\/p>\n
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