Will Johnson (musician) explained

Will Johnson
Background:solo_singer
Birth Date:23 March 1971
Birth Place:Kennett, Missouri
Genre:Indie rock
alt-country
Singer-songwriter
Occupation:Singer-songwriter
painter
Years Active:1988–present
Label:Undertow Music Collective
Idol Records
Quality Park Records
Rounder Records
Steve Records
Munich Records
Misra Records
Cooking Vinyl
Houston Party
Sixgunlover
Secretly Canadian
Navigational Transmissions
Keeled Scales
Associated Acts:Centro-matic
South San Gabriel
Undertow Orchestra
Monsters of Folk
New Multitudes
Overseas

Will Johnson (born March 23, 1971)[1] is an American musician, singer-songwriter, author and painter who was the lead singer of the bands Centro-matic and South San Gabriel. Called "one of the most prolific artists in American indie rock",[2] Johnson has also released solo records, and is a member of the bands Monsters of Folk, New Multitudes and Overseas, and has also performed as part of the Undertow Orchestra.[3] He is currently a member of Jason Isbell's band, the 400 Unit.

Early life

Johnson was born in Kennett, Missouri. When he was 11 years old, his mother remarried and the family moved to Killeen, Texas.

Johnson attended the University of North Texas, where he was involved in Denton's active music scene. He double-majored in English and elementary education.

Music career

Early music

Johnson began playing drums, piano and sang in his church choir at an early age. After moving to Killeen, Texas, from Kennett, Missouri, he was a founding member and drummer for the jangle-rock band The Benjamins. They released two cassettes in 1988 and 1989 before Johnson left to attend the University of North Texas. While there, Johnson played in bands such as Polyester, Salt Lick, The Dooms UK, and was a founding member of Baboon.

Funland

On Super Bowl Sunday 1991, Johnson joined Peter Schmidt and Clark Vogeler to form the band Melt, which changed its name to Funland in 1992. Funland signed with Arista Records that year, releasing the EP Sweetness in March 1993. The band toured regularly in the US and released its only full-length album, The Funland Band, on Steve Records in 1995. After five and a half years, Funland disbanded in June 1996.

Centro-matic

See main article: Centro-matic. Centro-matic began as a four-track cassette project when Johnson returned to college in May 1995. It was the first time he had written and sung songs, and later that year saw the release of the cassette Non-Directional Jetpack Race. A handful of 7-inch releases followed, and Johnson began playing live under the Centro-matic moniker in March 1996 as a solo performance with electric guitar and vocals. In December 1996, Johnson recorded the first Centro-matic full-length album, Redo The Stacks. Johnson played all the instruments except violin (Scott Danbom) and cello (Lindsay Romig), with a longtime friend Matt Pence engineering the lo-fi record.

In February 1997, Johnson started performing full-band Centro-matic shows with Mark Hedman on bass guitar and Pence on drums. Choosing to keep things informal, the band's first rehearsal was held after its second show. In March 1997, Danbom joined the band on the piano, fiddle, bass guitar, and vocals. Centro-matic continued to record and tour extensively in the United States and Europe under the same lineup until deciding to disband in 2014.

The band released ten albums and five EPs, plus several 7-inch recordings, cassettes, and compilation, and soundtrack appearances. The band worked with Jeff Powell, Anders Parker and Scott Solter. The full-lengths Navigational, B-sides compilation Static vs. The Strings Vol. 1 and All The Falsest Hearts Can Try was recorded at Jay Farrar's studio in Millstadt, Illinois. The band subsequently recorded most of its material at The Echo Lab in Argyle, Texas.

South San Gabriel

See main article: South San Gabriel (band). With his Centro-matic bandmates, Johnson formed the band South San Gabriel in the spring of 2001. It resulted from Centro-matic wanting to collaborate with and include other musicians while experimenting with a more spacious and atmospheric approach to writing and recording. South San Gabriel has a fluid lineup, with the band performing with anywhere from 3–10 members. South San Gabriel has released three full-length albums, plus EPs and singles.

Molina and Johnson

See main article: Molina and Johnson. Johnson collaborated with songwriter Jason Molina for the joint album Molina and Johnson, released on the Secretly Canadian label in November 2009. They met by chance at the SXSW festival in Austin in 2003 or 2004. They recorded the album over a week and a half in early 2008. Johnson describes Molina as a "whirlwind of dedication and activity". Another collaboration was discussed but it never came to fruition before Molina's death in 2013.

Undertow Orchestra

See main article: Undertow Orchestra. Johnson has performed as part of the Undertow Orchestra with David Bazan, Vic Chesnutt and Mark Eitzel. Johnson first met Chestnutt in 1999 in Dallas. Chesnutt was a fan of Eitzel's music, and the two were long-time friends.

According to Johnson, Bob Andrews, the manager for the four musicians, had the idea in 2005 to create a band called the Undertow Orchestra from members of the Undertow Music Collective. Johnson said Chesnutt was adamant that the shows not feature any solo performances, with the members working to play each other's songs as backing musicians.

Monsters of Folk

See main article: Monsters of Folk. Johnson performed with indie supergroup Monsters of Folk as the drummer on a 2009 tour. The group included Jim James, Conor Oberst, M. Ward and Mike Mogis. The band toured the US and Europe and performed on PBS show Austin City Limits in October 2010. Johnson became an official member of the band during that time.[4] [5]

New Multitudes

See main article: New Multitudes. From 2009 to 2012, Johnson collaborated with Jay Farrar, Jim James, and Anders Parker on the Woody Guthrie archive project New Multitudes. The project involved the four songwriters setting music to Guthrie's unrecorded lyrics, and was recorded in several locations. The tribute album was released in 2012 with a short US tour following.

Overseas

See main article: Overseas (band). Johnson formed the band Overseas in 2009 with David Bazan and Matt and Bubba Kadane. An eponymous album was released in 2013.

Other

As part of the Monsters of Folk, Johnson participated in Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit in 2009. At the benefit, Johnson reconnected with former babysitter and family friend Sheryl Crow, who is also from Johnson's hometown.

Writing

Johnson authored a novel If or When I Call which was published by Goliad Media and released on March 15, 2021.[6]

Painting

An avid baseball fan as a child, Johnson roots for the St. Louis Cardinals. Since 2008 Johnson has produced folk art paintings, mostly centering on the subject of baseball and its history. Commissions from friends eventually led to his work being exhibited in group and solo art shows.

Exhibitions

Personal life

As of 2022, Johnson currently lives in Hays County, Texas .

Discography

Solo Discography

LPs
EPs
7" records
Soundtracks
Collaborations
Compilation appearances
Producer
Touring or guest musician
Guest musician/vocalist
Film appearances

Centro-matic Discography

LPs:

Singles and EPs:

7-inch Records:

Cassettes:

Compilation Appearances:

South San Gabriel Discography

Albums
Singles and EPs
Compilation appearances

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gibbs. Otis. Episode 56: Will Johnson. Thanks For Giving a Damn with Otis Gibbs. SoundCloud. November 7, 2013. Nashville, TN – Tracy Thomas' house. Audio interview. November 6, 2013.
  2. Web site: Deming. Mark. Will Johnson – Biography. AllMusic. November 7, 2013.
  3. News: Langer. Andy. Six Degrees of Will Johnson. August 30, 2015. Texas Monthly. November 2012.
  4. Web site: Lounge Act Recap – Will Johnson. WOXY.com. November 7, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20111026133334/http://woxy.com/blog/2010/01/25/lounge-act-recap-will-johnson/. October 26, 2011. January 25, 2010.
  5. Web site: Will Johnson – WOXY Lounge Act (full session download) . . November 7, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111026192919/http://woxy.com/media/audio/loungeact/will_johnson-20100122/will_johnson-20100122.mp3 . October 26, 2011 . Audio interview – mp3 . January 25, 2010 . unfit .
  6. Web site: No Voice Was Expendable: An Interview with Will Johnson. Maudlin House. November 13, 2020 . March 16, 2021.
  7. Web site: Take Pride in Your Long Odds. Amazon . January 17, 2015.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Will Johnson (musician)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.