Today we’d like to introduce you to Grego Anderson.
Hi Grego, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was raised in Big Rapids, Michigan, a small northern town – not the sort of place you expect to find a person who has devoted his life to Blues music and southern folk art – but here I am at 54, and that’s what happened. I graduated from Ferris State University in 1989 with a commercial art degree and no idea of how life worked outside of the small community I grew up in – but I did have a plan, even though it needed to be better thought out. I was always a huge music lover, although I had never played an instrument until I got to Austin in 1990.
Why Austin? It was all based on me hearing Stevie Ray Vaughan sing “Texas Flood” on the radio late one night in Michigan – it was my first taste of Texas Blues music, and it made me want to learn everything I could about an art form that seemed as foreign to me as it could be. The liner notes of his records pointed me to Austin, and I figured I could use my newfound degree as an opening in the world of Blues music and musicians – but that was the extent of my thought process. I had no job, experience, or real prospects – but I still loaded up a 1972 VW that I purchased for $150 with all my worldly possessions and hit the road.
The car made it – but just barely. I lived in the first apartment complex I stopped at – the car never ran again. It took a year of small, odd jobs before I finally got a chance to put my degree to work – becoming Art Director at a publishing house, then a screen print shop – all the while buying every Blues record I could find and beginning to learn how to play guitar. My art career was doing fine in the corporate world, but I wanted to run my own business and for it to specialize in working with musicians and the music industry – and hopefully to even have my band one day.
In 1996, I began to paint – something I had not done much of since art school – and I decided to paint some of my favorite Blues artists from the 1930s and 40’s to decorate my home. I shopped a dozen paintings at a few galleries, and much to my surprise, I was immediately being exhibited at Yard Dog gallery and Wild About Music in Austin. When visitors stopped by, I realized that the “Blues folk art style” I had invented was interesting to people and had a chance to be commercially viable. Sales erupted, and I knew it was time to make my career move.
Utilizing my years of experience in marketing and graphic design, I developed Mojohand.com – The world’s first online Blues music art store and apparel line. I created 6 different shirt designs, had them printed and stocked them in my guest bedroom, and began screen printing art posters in my garage on the weekends. At this point, everything was trial and error. I taught myself how to make an online store – and soon, I was shipping the Blues worldwide from a tiny bedroom in South Austin, Texas.
As the years went by, I became quite well-known in the Blues industry – creating art and posters for the House of Blues, other large concert venues, record companies, and musical performers. I always stayed on my original concept and never hired anyone – Mojohand.com is still a one-person operation after 23 years and is still run from one bedroom in my home. I have to take Mojohand on the road, set up at many Blues festivals and art markets, and work in the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, MS, in stores in Memphis, Nashville, and other music meccas.
Amidst all this “business,” I managed to find the time to become a musician and band leader – and have been playing in bands such as The Freight Train Troubadours for the past 25 years, Twilight Trio and Grego Anderson and Down and Out. I have appeared on 3 episodes of “Songwriters across Texas,” playing guitar and dobro and singing some original compositions. Additionally, I have appeared in a few music documentaries, including “Where Lightnin Strikes – the Lightnin Hopkins story” and the syndicated TV program “The art of Living” on Verio TV.
My blues concert poster design work has won a handful of awards, including an “ADDY” award in Florida for my work with the Bradenton Blues Festival – and a feature spot in the coffee table book “The art of modern rock – the poster explosion” I also have been creating a Blues based comic strip for the past 5 years that is still published weekly called “Me and the Devil Blues” which is the story of a fictional Blues singer named Blind Hambone, who made a deal with the devil – but it is going very poorly for both of them.
At his point in my life, my plans for Mojohand.com are to get on the road more often, attend state Blues festivals as both a vendor and a performer – and work to continue to promote the field of Blues music and educate others about the wealth of talent that created rock and roll.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Sadly, nothing is ever very smooth – but most of the struggles I have faced were technological or financial – the web has changed immensely since I first hand-coded a website together 22 years ago – VAT taxes, postal issues, rising costs, covid, able to get insurance as a self-employed person – and of course – the fact that I have to act as my lawyer, web developer, janitor, and the tech support guy is challenging. I have had multiple hard drive failures, had my website hacked – you name it, but I never stopped believing that I could keep it all going.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I specialize in a very “hand drawn” style of art and design – I refer to it as Folk Art Style – and it’s the opposite of the modern, clean, computer-derived work of most modern designers and illustrators even though I do create most of my design work on a MacBook with a digital tablet, I refuse to leave my more “analog” roots of hand drawn everything. My main work is always in the field of music – Blues mainly – although many country acts have hired me for promotional work as well. What truly sets me apart is that my style is unique to me. I invented it, and I perfected it. My style is all over the web and the world; those in my industry know my work immediately. I am most proud that I have been self-employed for over 20 years. I invented a genre, found a market, and created enough happy clients and customers that my business continues to grow. I love Blues music, so my passion is creating products and art for fellow travelers and Blues fans. I am also pleased that this all ties in with playing music. I play guitar for an hour daily and love to write songs, perform for a crowd, and create musical art. It all goes hand in hand.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I am a severe type A personality – confident to a fault, I will outwork or outthink any problem, and I take them all as personal challenges to see how self-sufficient I can be. I have also always been a manic pre-planner. I have notes and plans for the next 5 years – I am always looking for new ways to make things more efficient – to be better, to make better art, to create better T-shirts, hats, stickers, and posters – finding faster shipping methods – you name it. It’s borderline obsessive, but to succeed in the creative field, you have to wear many hats – and wear them all well.
Pricing:
- t-shirts from $20
- original paintings from $150
- Concert posters from $20
- Free USA shipping for orders over $35
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mojohand.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mojohanddotcom/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everythingblues
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mojohanddotcom
Image Credits
Photo: Stan Martin
