Chicago street musician, bluesman, and actor, Little Howlin’ Wolf, was born James R. Pobiega, Aug. 23, 1950. Of Polish decent, the grandson of a gravedigger and “moonshinerâ€, and son of a milkman, Pobiega grew up in the working class neighborhood of Justice, IL, a town located on the southwest outskirts of Chicago. Due to his large 6’6†stature, and tenacity on the football field at Argo High, he quickly earned the nickname, ‘Beowulf’, which was later shortened to ‘Wolf’. After high school, he briefly attended The Goodman Theatre in Chicago, IL., and although quite successful, he would soon realize that music was his calling. A self-taught musician, Wolf would gather up his guitar, harp, and saxophone, and hit the streets of Chicago, performing his original blues and jazz compositions, wherever and anywhere he could. Given his voice was filled with a natural booming, yet gravelly, soulful, and bluesy sound, he was given the moniker, Little Howlin’ Wolf, in respect to fellow bluesman and predecessor, Howlin’ Wolf. A name he was honored to receive, and still embraces to this day.
During the 1970s, Wolf started his own record label SOLIDARITY SOLIDARNOSC RECORDS, with subsidiaries ALCATRAZ, BEACON, and JUSTICE. Since then, he has recorded and released over two volumes of singles and three full length albums; THE GUARDIAN (1982), THE COOL TRUTH (1985), and his latest, BRAVE NU WORLD (2005). A cultural student and teacher, and advocate for the people, Wolf has brought his music and messages for peace and understanding all over North America and Europe, and has been featured in many blues and jazz magazines, as well as People Magazine. He has also performed a wide variety of other types of original music under the names; Deacon Blue, Papa Doc (spiritual and tribal), Bo Tom Ed (his comedic country character), The Shadow Drifter (folk), and Buccaneer Bob (a pirate character he uses to entertain children shows).
In recent years, Pobiega has returned to acting. He has been a part of Chicago’s theatre scene, and been in a handful of independent short and feature films, working alongside Willy Laszlo, Tim Kazurinsky, John Borowski, Ed Asner, and Judge Reinhold. He has also earned his Captain’s license for boating, became a SCUBA instructor, and found the time to return to the football field in an independent-hobbyist football league outside Joliet, IL. With the help and permission of Solidarity Solidarnosc Records, Little Howlin’ Wolf’s albums have now been released onto CD by the Baltimore-based, Nautical Almanac’s EHSE Records.
**This is the official site for James “Little Howlin’ Wolf†Pobiega. Although Little Howlin’ Wolf will be looking in from time to time, he does not own a computer, therefore this site is managed by his family member. Please feel free to leave fan comments for Wolf, but if you wish to contact him directly, please write to:
SOLIDARITY SOLIDARNOSC RECORDS
C/O James “Little Howlin’ Wolf†Pobiega
7326 S. Banks St.
Justice, IL 60458 USA
“Stay Righteous, stay rough…The Cool Truth.â€
-Little Howlin’ Wolf
"SUDS"(2000)
Directed and Produced by Willy Laszlo. Starring and Written by Tim Kazurinsky. Also Starring Cayne Collier, Butch Jerenic, Paul Cohen, John Mikos, Jim Pobiega. Greg Hardigan. Camera by Jeff Goodvin, Underwater Camera by Scott Milkeris. Edited by John Borowski.
"Break Your Chain" Live @ BIG PINK, in South Philadelphia, (2006)
W/ The Shining Path @ The Marquise Dance Hall, NYC (2006)
Clip from the K-RAA-K Festival, Hasselt, Belgium, 2007
