By
day, Rev. Maxwell Johnson '89M.A., '92Ph.D. is a professor of
liturgy at Notre Dame.
At night, he's a soul man.
Johnson sings and plays guitar for the Oblates of Blues, a band
he formed at Notre Dame in 1999 with theology graduate students
he first met while teaching at Saint John's University in Minnesota.
The band did not feel it was worthy of the title "Blues Brothers,"
so it chose Oblates of Blues instead. Oblates are associates of
Benedictine monasteries, laypeople who commit themselves to Benedictine
values insofar as their lives permit. The band similarly is committed
to Chicago-style blues.
Johnson is the only original band member remaining, but the
Oblates still are composed entirely of Notre Dame theology professors,
graduates and graduate students. Rev. Hugh Page Jr. is the dean
of the First Year of Studies and a professor of Africana studies
and theology, but he finds time to sing and play harmonica for
the Oblates. Page, an Episcopal priest, believes blues singers
and preachers serve similar roles.
"The blues singer functions in much the same way that a preacher
does, but using a different language of theological expression
and using a different set of symbols to talk about life's difficulties,"
he says. Page likens a blues performance to a church service.
"Emotions are expressed, pain is somehow assuaged and healing
takes place," he says.
That does not mean the Oblates are belting out hymns on the
harmonica. "We're playing the same kind of stuff any other blues
band would be playing," Johnson says. That includes songs by Muddy
Waters, Junior Wells, Albert Collins and B.B. King. The Oblates
also have about a dozen original songs, none of which could be
confused with "Faith of Our Fathers." Oblates titles include "I've
Got a Big Dog," "I Ain't Gonna Mow My Yard 'Til My Baby Back Comes
Home" and "Everybody Loves the Biscuits," which was inspired,
Johnson says, by a late-night visit to KFC by two former band
members.
In addition to Johnson and Page, the band's current membership
includes graduate student Mark Cichra on guitar and Nick Russo,
a Ph.D. candidate, on bass. Lawrence Sullivan, professor of theology,
plays the keyboard, and Tom Guinan '91, '92, '93M.A., University
associate controller, plays drums.
The Oblates would like to record a CD of their original work
at some point, but for now they are focused on live performances.
The band tries to perform about once a month in bars near South
Bend. Johnson says the shows are generally well-attended.
"We usually get a pretty good crowd from the University, both
from the [theology] department and from other areas," he says.
At a January performance at the Midway Tavern in Mishawaka, the
Oblates were accompanied by the Bad Habit Horns, a three-man horn
section featuring faculty from the engineering department. "We're
looking forward to further collaboration with them," Johnson says.
Despite the funny band names and song titles, the blues are
a serious subject for Page. "There's nothing not heavy about the
blues," he says. "The more that I sing them . . . the more appreciative
I am of the power that the music has and of the legacy that we
as members of the band are stewards of." For that reason the Oblates
are committed to, as Johnson puts it, "spreading the message of
Chicago Blues to all who will receive it."
* * *
(April 2006)
