Basic fact: Eric Johnson is one of popular music’s most respected and renowned guitarists. Further fact sometimes overshadowed by the brilliance of Johnson’s playing: The reason why he stands both out and above the rest in a world peopled with many “guitar gods” is that, for Johnson, it’s as much about the music and the song as it playing his guitar.
In March of 2010, Eric will be among the artists on the Experience Hendrix tour which also features Joe Satriani, Brad Whitford, Doyle Bramhall II, Jonny Lang, Hubert Sumlin, Billy Cox, Chris Layton, Ernie Isley, Living Colour, Susan Tedeshi, and Sacred Steel featuring Robert Randolph. Other guests will be announced as well.
“He's an extraordinary guitar player accessible to ordinary music fans,” notes the Memphis Commercial Appeal. That’s because Eric Johnson plays music and not just the guitar. And as found on his Vanguard live DVD release, Anaheim, he is also a gifted player of the piano (his first instrument) as well as songwriter, singer and song interpreter. Or more succinctly, Eric Johnson is a diverse, versatile and fully realized musical creator who plays guitar like no one else.
A Grammy-winning musical artist who is a member of Guitar Player’s Gallery of Greats and was named one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century by Musician magazine, Johnson “plays guitar the way Michelangelo painted ceilings: with a colorful vibrancy that's more real than life," raves The New Age Music Guide. Similarly, as his friend and fellow guitarist Steve Vai observes, "Eric has more colorful tone in his fingers than Van Gogh had on his palette."
Experience Hendrix Tour dates are as follows:
March 7th - Ikeda Theater - Mesa, AZ
March 9th - Table Mountain Casino - Friant, CA - on sale Monday Jan 25th
March 10th - Warfield Theatre - San Francisco, CA
March 11th - Warfield Theatre - San Francisco, CA
March 12th - Silver Legacy - Reno, NV
March 14th - Paramount Theater - Denver, CO
March 15th - Stiefel Theatre For Performing Arts - Salina, KS
March 16th - Uptown Theater - Kansas City, MO
March 17th- Orpheum Theatre - Minneapolis, MN
March 18th - Chicago Theatre - Chicago, IL
March 20th - The Fox Theatre - ST Louis, MO
March 21st - Riverside Theatre - Milwaukee, WI
March 23rd - Civic Theatre - Akron, OH
March 24th - Wellmont Theatre - Montclair, NJ
March 25th - Count Basie Theatre - Red Bank, NJ
March 27th - The Fox Theatre - Atlanta, GA
March 28th - Durham Performing Arts Center - Durham, NC
Johnson’s gift for composing and playing songs that evoke vivid imagery and tell palpable stories even without words can be witnessed on his Anaheim performances of the aptly-named “Trademark” and his signature song “Cliffs of Dover,” which won Johnson a Grammy in 1991 for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. The effervescent 2006 live performance at The Grove in Anaheim includes “S.R.V.,” Johnson’s stirring salute to the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, who rose to fame alongside Johnson from the Austin, Texas music scene, and his only recorded performance of “Manic Depression” by Jimi Hendrix, a seminal inspiration to whom Johnson has often been compared.
Anaheim also showcases the range of Johnson’s stylistic versatility with the sizzling country twang of “On The Way To Love,” a high-wattage take on the Neil Diamond-penned #2 pop hit by The Monkees, “Little Bit Me Little Bit You,” and Bob Dylan’s “My Back Pages” (which he recorded on his most recent studio album, 2005’s Bloom). The DVD is augmented with three performances from his 2004 acoustic guitar and piano tour (including Johnson’s piano reinterpretation of Hendrix’s “Wind Cries Mary”) and rounded out by a candid interview with Johnson in his recording studio that provides a glimpse into his creative process.
For more information, visit www.ericjohnson.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment