School Boy Jr.

Upright and Fender Electric Bass

One of the hardest working and best bassists in the biz, School Boy Jr has played with countless Blues Bands, both Nationally and Internationally, a real solid sender.

The musical journey of Schoolboy Jr. (AKA Craig Allen Larsen) began at the age of four years old listening to his Aunt Bertie playing Jazz and Ragtime stride piano, helping the youngster understand the sound and elegance of the Blues. Also, his mother Maureen and aunt Linda shared a love of roots rock from Memphis. From this inspiration came a thirst for knowledge and a relentless interest in music in all it's forms. Schoolboy began piano studies and also playing guitar at age six. Then, over college radio the youngster discovered the great Lighting Hopkins, Muddy Waters and his majesty, BB King. Schoolboy studied cello and violin as well as trombone in those early years and went on to play bass in high school Jazz groups around the Portland area. Schoolboy also formed several rock bands in which he played guitar and sang the Blues and roots rock standards. After studying Jazz at Mount Hood Community College, Schoolboy went on to join The Jim Mesi Band and began an extensive performance schedule that included a tour of Europe and performances at the Portland Waterfront Blues Festival with Wild Child Butler and Shirley Dixon. In other Portland performances, Schoolboy performed with Paul Delay, Lloyd Jones, Harp Dog Brown, D.K. Stewart, Steve Bradley, Terry Rob, Carlton Jackson, Reinhardt Melz, Cory Burden, Lily Wilde, Mark Dufresne and Curtis Salgado. Schoolboy also performed with James Cotton, Dick Dale and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith and New Riders of the Purple Sage. A noted recording on Candelight Records with engineer Drew Callunet “Hot Night at the Candlelight” was released in 1994. Schoolboy Jr. relocated to Los Angeles in 1997 and has been a Blues Messenger since 1998 pouring his heart into the old Kay bass and pumping out the Blues up and down the West Coast and into old Mexico. Schoolboy counts Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, Charles Mingus and John Clayton as his greatest influences on his instrument.