If I may, a few words about John-Alex Mason.

I can count the times that I spoke to John-Alex Mason on one hand. But, in every encounter, I found him to be a pleasant young man with a polite and gentle manner.

One time that comes to mind was at a small coffee house on the Arkansas river during the FibArk event in Salida, Colorado. I walked in and there was John-Alex setting up his gear on the stage. We exchanged salutations and I offered to buy him a cup. We stood in line and had a nebulous, but humorous conversation with a stranger about the cost of our wrist watches.

Later, as the music started, the room filled with young kayakers and spectators. By the third song, they were all up and dancing around the room to the rhythm of John-Alex’s thumping kick snare and the rhythmic tones of his National Resonator. He barely paused to get “Barefooted” and pick up the beat on the “Rabbit Song”. It was a great performance and a wild night at Bongo Billy’s. Typical of a John-Alex Mason performance.

Later that year, I encountered John-Alex again as we were both having lunch in a local eatery. I approached him as a representative of the local blues community to offer him a performance opportunity at Blues in the Park.

Though gracious, as always, he declined due to a routine medical procedure scheduled for the following day and was unsure of what his recovery time would be. He seemed anxious and pensive.

A few days later, I was informed of his passing due to complications.

John-Alex Mason toured the country sharing his traditional style of blues for many years bringing joy and happiness where ever he performed. He was 35. The blues world still feels the loss so many years later.