Delta Moon formed in the late 1990s when Mark Johnson and Tom Gray lived within a few blocks of each other in Atlanta's Inman Park neighborhood. They got together regularly to work up arrangements of classic blues and original songs for two slide guitars. Soon, joined by singer Gina Leigh and a rotating cast of percussionists, drummers, and bassists, the band was playing festivals and nightclubs around Atlanta and the South.
Following the March 2002 release of their debut CD, "Delta Moon," the band started ranging farther from home. What really launched them on the national scene was when Delta Moon beat out over 50 other competitors to win the prestigious International Blues Challenge in Memphis in January 2003. In June of that year they released their second CD, "Live," recorded at Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta. The band was voted the Best Overall Music Act in Atlanta by Creative Loafing Readers that summer.
After a year of touring North America and England, in June 2004 the band released "Goin' Down South." Drummer Scott Callison, who had played with the band in its early days, rejoined in 2003. In fall 2004 Gina left the band, and six weeks later Kristin Markiton became Delta Moon's new female singer. "Howlin'" was released in 2005 and has been their most successful CD to date.
The band has come full circle with the latest changes in lineup, and Delta Moon is being re-born (again) as a tight 4 piece band featuring the dual slide guitars of Tom and Mark and the songwriting, as always, of Tom Gray. They are recording a new CD utilizing Ted Pecchio and Tyler Greenwell, the energetic rhythm section behind The Codetalkers. But in addition to great songs and critcally acclaimed CD's, this is a band that is best appreciated LIVE. Swampy, sinewy, improvisational, Southern roots music at it's finest.
Tom Gray
lap steel guitar,
keyboards & vocals
Originally from Arlington, Virginia, Tom has written songs recorded by Cyndi Lauper (?Money Changes Everything?), Carlene Carter, Manfred Mann, and many other artists. Tom was the leader of the 1980s rock band The Brains and has since recorded and performed with a long list of vocalists and groups.
Mark Johnson
guitar
A dedicated and talented player who is relentless in his quest for tone, Mark moved south from Ohio and formed a band called The Rude Northerners, then worked with the Atlanta band The Crawdads before becoming a founding member of Delta Moon. Mark made up the band's name after visiting Muddy Waters' cabin near Clarksdale, Mississippi.
Blind Willie Johnson 8
Duane Allman 12
J.J. Cale 38
Jessie Mae Hemphill 6
Ry Cooder 65
Tab Benoit 18
Hot Tuna 38
Little Feat 100
Mississippi Fred McDowell 7
Rory Block 36
Sonny Landreth 17
Blackberry Smoke 26
David Lindley 10
Doc Holliday 14
Leon Redbone 19
Monkeyjunk 5
Savoy Brown 60
Seasick Steve 22
Burnside Exploration 1
Delbert McClinton 27
Jim Dickinson 1
JJ Grey & Mofro 10
Junior Kimbrough 8
R.L. Burnside 16
Spencer Dickinson 1
T-Model Ford 8
Hill Country Revue 3
Warren Haynes 15
Watermelon Slim 9
Alvin Youngblood Hart 5
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears 6
Charlie Parr 16
Delaney Bramlett 5
Drive-By Truckers 36
John Hiatt 39
Lowell George 4
Patrick Sweany 7
Robben Ford 30
Susan Tedeschi 8
Corey Harris 12
Dan Auerbach 2
Joe Louis Walker 27
North Mississippi Allstars 22
The Allman Brothers Band 216
Black Crowes 3
The Black Keys 28
The Derek Trucks Band 13
The SteelDrivers 9
Tommy Castro 13