The guitar virtuoso grew up in a musical family. His dad's lips were his instrument - he was a noted whistler - and all the kids played piano. And he grew up in Austin, Texas, the stomping ground of greats like Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Stevie Ray Vaughan and others.
I took it for granted that that way was the way culture and music were, '' said Johnson who returns to for a House of Blues show on Tuesday, March 13. When I was growing up, Austin seemed to have a real abundance of that.
The first time I went to Los Angeles, as a teenager, there didn't seem to be as many varied clubs as there was in Austin, '' he said.
Fender Stratocaster Eric Johnson Signature 2008 C.
So, Johnson is intent on sharing a little of that diversity with his audiences. He's been known to shred in all kinds of languages - rock, blues, soul, folk, jazz fusion, country and more.
I suppose I approach the guitar as a keyboard, '' said Johnson. Logically, in my mind, because I played piano first, I base it off a keyboard and constructing chords. I approach a fretboard as if it were a keyboard.''
With that in mind, he takes his Fender Stratocaster - usually, he's a Strat guy, anyway, but he'll switch from time to time, depending on the song - on a search for sound that creates the feel he's hunting.
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But Johnson isn't limited to his six-string - or his lap steel, or his bass, or his acoustic, all of which are in his wheelhouse. His vocals are just as strong, and that's largely because his music travels the same path to the microphone as it does to the amp.
Of course, the difference is that the music comes to him a lot more easily than the words when he's putting pen to paper.
Maybe that's why his latest album, Collage, '' is a marriage of five originals and five reinterpretations of songs by B.B. King (Rock Me, Baby), Stevie Wonder (Uptight: Everything's Alright), the Ventures and Chantays (Pipeline) and the Beatles (We Can Work It Out). Oh, and there's variation of his version of Jimi Hendrix's One Rainy Wish, '' too.
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The last makes sense since one of Johnson's more recent stops in the North Coast was as part of the talent-laden Jimi Hendrix Experience Tour in 2014. That night at the Hard Rock Rocksino featured Dweezil Zappa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jonny Lang, Buddy Guy, Ana Popovic and Doyle Bramall II, among others.
I think it's cool that everybody has a different interpretation of a great artist, '' said Johnson, recalling that electric tour. He wouldn't pick favorites but noted that he especially was impressed by Bramhall - He's a fine singer and had a soulful interpretation'' - and Shepherd.
As cool as that show and that lineup was, there's one guy with whom Johnson would love to have had a chance to play: Wes Montgomery. Montgomery, who died at the age of 45 in 1968, is regarded as one of the great jazz guitarists of all time.
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If I could have taken lessons from him . . ., '' Johnson said, his voice trailing off. Look at somebody like Wes and Jimi. With music, there's hardly any similarity, but in the life force behind the curtain that's DRIVING the music, you'll find this incredible symmetry.''
The result from both was music for the ages, and the same is true with the sound that Johnson elicits from his beloved Stratocaster. More to the point, it's choice music.
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The New Age Music Guide once opined that “Eric Johnson plays guitar the way Michelangelo painted ceilings: with a colorful vibrancy that’s more real than life” while Rolling Stone included him in their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of the 21st century. A dynamic singer as well as an incredibly gifted guitarist and prolific songwriter, Eric has been featured on the cover of countless guitar magazines around the world while also racking up critical accolades and mega-sales along the way.
The son of an Austin physician, Eric was born in 1954 and began studying piano at age five. He took up guitar at age eleven and progressed quickly from Beatles and Ventures songs to Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix and Django Reinhardt. In early 1974, he joined Austin’s first notable fusion band, the Electromagnets and the following year saw the release of the group’s self-titled debut. In 1978 he recorded Seven Worlds with Electromagnets alumni Bill Maddox and Kyle Brock. Eric subsequently became an in-demand sideman, appearing on recordings by Cat Stevens, Carole King, Rodney Crowell and fellow Texan and longtime friend Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Christopher Cross.
Since 1986 Eric has released twelve studio albums and several live albums, in addition to albums with other artists such as Eclectic with jazz guitarist Mike Stern, and G3 Live with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. Eric has received eight Grammy nominations along with numerous other recognitions, awards and wins in various polls and magazines. He emerged from the pandemic with two new records, The Book of Making and Yesterday Meets Today.Eric Johnson (born August 17, 1954) is an American guitarist, vocalist and composer. His 1990 album Ah Via Musicom was certified platinum by the RIAA, and the single Cliffs of Dover won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumtal Performance.
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Best known for his electric guitar skills, Johnson is also a highly proficit acoustic, lap steel, resonator, and bassist, as well as an accomplished pianist and vocalist.
Born into a musically inclined family, Eric Johnson and his three sisters studied piano, while his father was a whistling thusiast. Johnson started learning the guitar at age 11 and rapidly progressed while listing to the musicians who would heavily influce his future style, including Mike Bloomfield, Chet Atkins, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hdrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ric Bailey, Wes Montgomery, Jerry Reed, Bob Dylan, and Django Reinhardt, among others.
At the age of 15, he joined his first professional band, Mariani, a psychedelic rock group. In 1970, Johnson and the group recorded a demonstration, which had an extremely limited release. The recording became a prized collector's item years later.
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After graduating from high school, Johnson briefly attded the University of Texas at Austin and traveled with his family to Africa. He evtually returned to Austin, and in 1974, joined a local fusion group called Electromagnets. The group toured and recorded regionally, but did not attract atttion from major record labels and disbanded in 1977. The strgth of Johnson's playing, however, attracted a small cult following to the group's early recordings, and decades later, their two albums were giv wide release on compact disc.
Following the Electromagnets' demise, Johnson formed a touring trio, the Eric Johnson Group, with drummer Bill Maddox and bassist Kyle Brock. They played to audices around Austin. From 1976–1978, Johnson recorded Sev Worlds, his debut album, at Odyssey Studios in Austin. Contract disputes followed, and Sev Worlds was not released until 1998 on Ark21 Records.
Johnson's career rebounded in 1984 wh he was signed to Warner Bros. Records. Christopher Cross and producer David Tickle recommded Johnson to the label. His breakthrough appearance at Austin City Limits on July 31, 1984, was recorded and later released on CD/DVD in 2010. The performance of Cliffs Of Dover from the concert was distributed in a flexi-disc soundpage in the May 1986 issue of Guitar Player magazine.
Guitar Hero Eric Johnson Visits The Admiral Theatre
In May 1986, Guitar Player magazine ran a cover story about Johnson. The article helped promote the release of Tones and brought Johnson critical praise, as well as elevating his profile in the guitar and music community.
The album's track Zap was nominated for the 1987 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumtal Performance, but as a whole, the album did not sell well, and Warner Bros. let Johnson's contract expire. He signed on with indie label Cinema Records, distributed by Capitol Records.
By the time Johnson released
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