Legendary guitarist ‘Eric Johnson’ announces July UK tour

Posted on Mar 5, 2012

Eric Johnson, the celebrated American electric guitarist, hailed by Joe Bonamassa as “one of the greatest guitar players of all time,” will embark on his first UK tour at the Holmfirth Picturedrome on Friday 5th July. The 5-date mini tour will showcase material from his current album “Up Close”, as well as from his rich back catalogue.

Planet Rock will start at ticket pre-sale on Wednesday 7th March, followed by a ticket pre-sale from Ents24 on Thursday 8th March.

Tickets go on sale to the general public via the 24 hour box office: 0844 478 0898, www.thegigcartel.com.

Johnson is also a respected acoustic, lap steel, resonator and an accomplished pianist and vocalist. He’s best known for his diverse array of music genres evidenced by many different styles incorporated in his studio and live performances, including rock, blues, jazz, fusion, folk, New Age and country music.

Guitar Player magazine called Johnson “one of the most respected guitarists on the planet”. His critically acclaimed, platinum-selling 1990 recording Ah Via Musicom produced the single Cliffs of Dover, for which he won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Cliffs of Dover also appeared in Guitar Hero 3 – Legends of Rock.

In 1996 he joined forces with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai for the original and legendary G3 tour that garnered a worldwide audience with the platinum selling CD and DVD release.

Johnson is best known for playing stock Fender Stratocasters and Gibson ES-335 electric guitars through a triple amp setup that consists of vintage Fender and Marshall amplifiers.

He plays vintage Stratocasters but also his ‘Fender Signature Stratocaster’ model, which is one of the best selling instruments in the Fender catalogue. He also designed a Signature acoustic guitar that was released by Martin guitars.

Eric Johnson’s stature as one of the premier guitar players in contemporary music is his artistic trump card, backed by a Grammy Award and five nominations, platinum album, Top 10 hits like Cliffs of Dover, praise from critics and the esteem of his peers. The full range of his talents marks him as a gifted songwriter, dynamic live performer, singer, pianist, and song interpreter.

His myriad and distinctive musical gifts are vividly evident on Johnson’s current studio album, Up Close, released on his own Vortexan Music label. The 15-track disc finds the noted master craftsman cutting loose, roaming through variations on the rock, blues, pop, country and jazz genres,  pushing the dynamic range of his artistry, and mixing it up with such friends and peers as guitarists Jimmie Vaughan and Sonny Landreth, plus guest vocalists Steve Miller, Johnny Lang and Malford Milligan.

“I decided to let go a bit and allow things to happen and just go with the flow,” explains Johnson about his approach to the album. “That’s a direction that works better for any artist, and especially for me. I like my work to have a high proficiency, but I also want to go for the energy and magic of the performances.”

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Bradley’s Barn – a classic re-released

Posted on Jun 16, 2011

After releasing the baroque-pop classic Triangle in 1967, The Beau Brummels shifted gears radically the following year when singer Sal Valentino, guitarist Ron Elliott, and producer Lenny Waronker travelled to Nashville to explore the crossroads of country and rock. Working with some of Music City’s hottest session players, the West Coast group recorded BRADLEY’S BARN, an album whose fusion of styles earned critical acclaim but was too far ahead of the curve to enjoy commercial success.

Rhino Handmade has rediscovered this unheralded gem of early country-rock and gives it its due as a two-disc set that comes in a hardbound booklet with rare photos and lengthy sleeve notes by Alec Palao that feature commentary from Valentino, Elliott, Waronker, and lyricist Bob Durand. The collection includes the original Warner Bros. album re-mastered by Dan Hersch and Andrew Sandoval, 25 rare and unreleased tracks, and a 1968 radio interview with Valentino and Elliott.

Unlike the stripped down approach The Byrds employed on Sweetheart Of The Rodeo (which was recorded around the same time), Waronker summoned a multilayered “guitar orchestra” for BRADLEY’S BARN, using it to explore Elliott’s complex melodies, and create clean but intricate arrangements to showcase Valentino’s velveteen voice. The band heard on most of BRADLEY’S BARN features Elliott, Valentino, keyboardist David Briggs, and bassist Norbert Putnam, plus guitarist Jerry Reed and drummer Kenny Buttrey, both of whom played with Bob Dylan during his Nashville years.

The first disc contains the newly re-mastered original album supplemented by several bonus tracks, including three previously unreleased songs: the alternate version of “I Love You Mama”; the 1967 demo for “Just A Little Bit Of Lovin’” recorded in Hollywood; and the stereo mix of the demo for “Black Crow.” Even more unissued recordings are revealed on the second disc, which features alternate takes of “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” and “Lift Me”; an alternate mix of “Love Can Fall A Long Way Down”; an alternate demo of “Another”; the demo for “Confessions”; and a cover of the classic country weeper “Long Black Veil.”

The disc also contains several of Valentino’s post-Brummels solo recordings including several singles from the era making their debut on CD as well as three more unreleased songs: an alternate version of “An Added Attraction (Come And See Me)” and the Johnny Cash covers “A Little At A Time” and “Home Of The Blues.”

Along with the trove of unreleased material, BRADLEY’S BARN also contains seven outtakes from the album’s sessions that were originally compiled by Rhino Handmade on Magic Hollow, the now sold-out retrospective spanning The Beau Brummels’ entire career released in 2005. Valentino and Elliott get the last word, literally, on BRADLEY’S BARN, which concludes with an interview of the two that was originally broadcast on San Francisco’s KMPX-FM in October 1968. The conversation, which occurred around the time of the album’s issue, has never been previously released.