By Jose Oliveira & Rosine Alleva -Rock At Night EU Editors
From the hell of the Khmer Rouge to the biggest blues stages, the journey of Su Pheaktra Bonnyface Chanmongkhon, known by her stage name Bonny B, is truly inspiring. When we think of Muddy Waters or Sonny Boy Williamson, our minds turn to the songs of liberation and the work songs of African Americans during the era of segregation. But the journey that led Bonny B to flee the Khmer Rouge’s Maoist regime and go on to perform on Europe’s finest stages is just as remarkable and poignant.
Long and fraught with obstacles, his journey is a living testament to resilience: a story that reminds us that, despite the wars and violence that dominate our screens, the Blues retains the power to heal and bring people together.
It was in the warm and welcoming setting of the Hôtel des Remparts, in the charming town of Kaysersberg, that Bonny B welcomed us for this exclusive interview—a meeting that reaffirms our faith in the human spirit and the vitality of the blues.
Interview
RAN – What a fantastic concert on that sold-out night during your appearance at Festiblues in Colmar. What are your thoughts?
Bonny B. – I was very pleased with the festival organization, the staff was warm and welcoming, the sound was fantastic, and we felt right at home on stage. The audience rewarded us with a sold-out crowd and was very attentive to our setlist. I had been there eight years ago, but this time it was very different. Better sound and a more attentive audience.
RAN – You were born in Cambodia under Pol Pot’s terrible regime, and your story is simply incredible. Can you summarize your childhood in Cambodia for us?
B B – My childhood in Cambodia was very tragic. There was a lot of suffering, famine, and the sound of bombs. My whole family and I were slaves to Pol Pot. We were starving; we couldn’t find anything to eat. In fact, I lost four brothers and a sister to the famine. My father was a teacher, and all intellectuals were persecuted by that regime. Thanks to some aerial bombings, we were able to flee into the jungle for three months and make our way toward the Thai border. Since we had no papers, we had the incredible luck of meeting Swiss missionaries who helped us cross the border. My father expressed our gratitude to them because they had just saved our lives. He had the courage to ask them if we could seek refuge in their country. After that, we flew from Thailand to Courtepain, in Fribourg, Switzerland. When we arrived, my dad kept telling us we’d arrived in paradise!!! And he was right!!!
RAN – And in Thailand, didn’t you have any problems with the locals?
B B– Not at all. When you’re a political refugee and you’ve fled a war like that, you can’t help but be happy in a country where there are no massacres. We already felt safe. I also received medical care. In July 1979, we arrived in Switzerland. I was still very sick because of the famine. I especially remember my first meal on the plane: a simple omelet. My starving body couldn’t handle it, even though the taste, so good and so new, overwhelmed me. I threw up immediately… Yet it was at that very moment that I felt, for the first time, the idea of renewal. As if that bite, even though I rejected it, opened the door to a possible recovery, to a future that was beginning anew.
RAN – You’re a shining example of successful integration. What’s your view on all these difficult integration issues, which are so common and actual around the world today?
B B – You have to blend in with the local community and accept things as they are. In fact, when you go through such dramatic experiences, you can’t help but feel resilient and look at happy people with a smile. That’s why we had such wonderful encounters with our Swiss host families, who helped us. I believe that, wherever you are in the world, if you’re a political refugee, you have to integrate. And that inevitably means accepting your responsibilities and honouring your obligations.
RAN – The history of the harmonica is inextricably linked to the social and racial struggles that have taken place in America. Was choosing this instrument an act of resilience for you?
B B – The harmonica came into my life when I was 12, after I attended an educational concert on the blues. The school had the brilliant idea of organising a show featuring two leading figures of the blues and jazz: Oscar Klein and Jerry Ricks. At the end of their set, I asked the singer/harmonica player what that instrument was, and he told me it was a harmonica and that you could buy one anywhere. And, a few days later, not having the money to buy one, I stole one from a music shop. I was trembling with fear that someone might notice me, as I’d never stolen anything in my life. My mum told me off and didn’t approve of what I’d done at all. But it’s true, you’re right. It was an act of resilience!!! Since then, for forty years now, I have been using this instrument as a weapon for Peace, for Love and compassion.
RAN – What a story!!! And how did you end up at HOHNER, the leading brand for this instrument?
B B – One day, the director of Hohner Switzerland rang me from Zurich and told me he’d read some good reviews about me in the newspapers and asked me to meet him. We got on well and he offered me a contract as a Hohner artist. I accepted with indescribable joy. But I was still tormented by that debt, so I asked him if he had any truly exceptional models. I then spotted a stunning gold-coloured harmonica, and he kindly gave it to me. A few days later, I went back quietly to the same shop where I’d stolen that harmonica, gave them this one, and told them my story!!! My karma was thus restored!!!
RAN – Diatonic or chromatic? Can you use both types of harmonica in the blues?
B B – I very rarely use chromatic harmonicas. Yes, maybe, but only in very slow, minor-key songs. Of course you can use both in the blues, but I honed my skills with diatonic harmonicas.
RAN – What were your earliest influences in the blues, and more specifically in playing your instrument?
B B – I listened a lot to Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Robert Lockwood, Albert Collins, B.B. King, and Jimmy Reed. As for harmonica players, obviously Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson, but also Carey Bell, Sonny Terry, and Big Walter Horton.
RAN – How did you manage to break into this very closed and deeply rooted world of the Blues in the USA?
B B – In ’98, with $1,000 in my pocket, I left for Chicago with a round-trip ticket, not knowing how I was going to get by once I got there. It was the first time I’d ever left Switzerland and Europe. When I arrived at the airport, I took a taxi and asked the driver, “Buddy Guy’s Legends, please.” I didn’t speak English very well. Once I got to his club, I was able to watch a jam session between Buddy Guy and a harmonica player. Junior Wells, who often accompanied him, had passed away a week earlier. I was amazed. At one point, there was a break, and the harmonica player put his mic down on the floor and went to the bar to get a beer. On a whim, I started playing the harmonica, and it surprised everyone. Buddy Guy came over to me and told me I played really well, which pleasantly surprised me. He then invited me to join him. I was living a dream!! I also played on the street. It was a wonderful experience; I really wanted to get into it and immerse myself in that African American world. I then discovered that these musicians also struggled to make a living from their passion. This led me to meet Bernard Alisson, Louisiana Red, John Primer, Bob Stroger, and Bob Margolin. A few years later, I brought them to Switzerland for a tour with me.
RAN – You’re very prolific, with 18 albums already under your belt. Does your latest album, “Love and Blues,” represent a new musical direction compared to all your previous ones?
B B – That’s a great question. Yes, I wanted to record it just like back in the day, in a short amount of time. It was July 4th and it was really hot. In a single take, it took us two hours to wrap everything up. It has a very distinctive sound because I told my brother, ICE B, who was in charge of mixing and mastering it, to give me a very rootsy, vintage, stylish sound in the vein of Fat Possum Records. That’s an independent American label based in Oxford, Mississippi. It blew up on Facebook when I posted the videos there. Back then I had 6,000 followers, and now I have almost 60,000!!! That’s when I was contacted by Robert Koch, who became my agent for Europe.
RAN – As we just heard, you’ve already shared the stage with some of the biggest names in the blues, but is there still one artist you’d love to play with?
B B – Playing with and meeting Muddy Waters was an impossible dream!!! He was the most important musician in my life. John Lee Hooker, too. But they’re all gone now.
RAN – Would you be interested in sharing the stage with Joe Bonamassa?
B B – He’s an excellent guitarist, but I find him a little… how can I put it? His tone is too “clean.” I prefer Black blues musicians who’ve been through a bit of hardship, like the ones I mentioned earlier. It’s not a question of racism, because, for example, Walter Trout is great, Chris Kane is excellent, and Kim Wilson is magnificent, but when you’ve been through difficult times, you gain a deeper power.
RAN – You founded a school in Cambodia for underprivileged children. Can you tell us a little about it? Do you have any contacts with politicians in Cambodia?
B B – I had this school, Phayou, built in 2007 in Taboun, an hour and a half from Siem Reap, in memory of my father, who was a teacher. I had promised him I would build this school when he passed away in 2001 from cancer. I then began organizing charity concerts to raise the funds needed to build it.
Construction was completed in 2009, and we currently serve about a hundred children between the ages of 3 and 8, along with four teachers. We’ve also hired a cook, a mechanic, and a landscaper. Of course, at first we had to overcome administrative hurdles, but we managed to purchase the land. As a result, they won’t be able to tear down the school anymore.
RAN – These two officially recognized records, becoming the only harmonica player in the world to play the harmonica for 24 hours straight and performing the longest riff across all tempos on the harmonica, are truly impressive. What motivated you to take on such a challenge?
B B – The goal was simple: to raise as much money as possible so that the project to build this school in Cambodia could be completed. It was 2009. We were short on funds to finish the roof. And that’s when I had the idea to attempt this world record. To play the harmonica non-stop for 24 hours. It came to me in a dream from my father, who told me, “You’ll do these 24 hours non-stop at your Blues Club, and it will be recorded in the Guinness Book.” It was a prophetic dream. There was no desire for fame.
RAN – There’s one question everyone keeps asking: What does the future hold for music? In your opinion, do you think the blues can still be part of the future of music?
B B– Excellent question. The blues will exist as long as there is emotion, as long as there is life, as long as there are stories to tell. Someone who cries, who suffers, has the blues, but someone who laughs also has the blues. It’s one of the few musical genres that can touch everyone. So, it’s a kind of music that will always remain alive.
RAN – This concert in Colmar really marks the start of a whole European tour that will have you on the road in 2026, right?
B B – Yes, that’s right—we’ll be playing in Poland, the Netherlands, France, and Switzerland, and we’ll even be in Portugal on May 28 in Faro, in the south of the country, at the Théâtre Lethes. We’re going to open up to the world. In March 2027, we’ll be performing in the United States—specifically in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and a few other cities. In July, the adventure will take shape in Brazil. It’s getting exciting.
RAN – Are there any recording projects on the horizon?
B B – Our last album was released in 2025, and our nineteenth will take shape, most likely later this year. I’m currently touring as a duo with ICE B, my brother.
RAN – Just a quick word about your brother. I really enjoyed his guitar playing.
B B – He’s a fantastic guitarist. We’re very close. Our musical chemistry is perfect. He’s also an excellent sound engineer. He knows how to capture the sound we need.
RAN – Do you plan to play at the prestigious Montreux Festival again?
B B – I was a close friend of Claude Nobs, the legendary founder of the Festival. He invited me to Montreux every year. Thanks to him, I was able to perform there with BB KING. He was also an excellent harmonica player. Since he passed away in 2013, I haven’t played there anymore. I’m sure I’ll be back someday. Let’s keep our hopes up. However, this year I’ll be participating in the Montreux Guitar Festival, which takes place on April 24. It’s the biggest guitar and harmonica festival.
RAN – That’s one of the hallmarks of this Festiblues: it always wraps up with a jam session featuring Robert KOCH, the harmonica player and festival organizer. A nice example of the close bond he shares with his agent, don’t you think?
B B – We’ve known each other for ten years, but we’ve only been working together for a year. He’s become my “booker” and gets me gigs all over Europe. He’s an excellent harmonica player and occasionally attends my classes in Trossingen, which I teach at Hohner in Germany. I really like him. He does a great job.
RAN – All that’s left is for me to thank you for giving us this wonderful opportunity to meet, but, and this is a first for me, I have a message for your “booker.” Tell him he’s got a real gem on his hands!!!!!
B B – Oh! Thank you so much, José. I’ll be happy to pass that along!!!
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Photos interview Elisabeth Oliveira & photos concert Jose Oliveira
PHOTO GALLERY
I was born in Portugal and lived the Sixties exploring the great UK Rock magazines: "The New Musical Express" and "Melody Maker". Ray Charles and Pat Boone were my father’s fav. I became “The Great Pretender”. Cliff Richard was our Elvis Presley. As a beach boy, with my first guitar, I met a beautiful French girl on the beach! It was the Summer of 69!! We got married and rock music was our dowry. In France, I became a Wine Genetic Research Scientist. One of my works contributed to the decoding of the genome of the vine! As a rock journalist, I’ve worked twenty years for the Portuguese and Brazilian Rock Press. I ‘ve interviewed so many great artists. Then, one day I met FRANK ZAPPA! I got into trouble for introducing my wife to "Uncle Meat"!
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