Eric Johnson

Friday, January 13 • Doors 7pm • Show 8pm • $22.50 Advance • $25 Day of Show • All Ages • Buy Tickets

An Evening With Eric Johnson

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. But the full hand of his talents marks him as well as a gifted songwriter, dynamic live performer, singer, pianist, song interpreter, and creator of a rich and diverse musical legacy.

His myriad and distinctive musical gifts are vividly ev­ident on Johnson’s aptly titled new album, Up Close, released on his own Vortexan Music label via EMI Distribution. The new 15-track disc finds the noted master craftsman cutting loose, roaming through variations on the rock, blues, pop, country and jazz all found at the core of his sound, pushing the dy­namic range of his artistry, and mixing it up with such friends and peers as guitarists Jimmie Vaughan and Sonny Landreth and guest singers Steve Miller, Jonny Lang and Malford Milligan.

Johnson’s eminence as a musical artist goes well beyond just his stunning guitar mastery. His keen compositional sense and lyrical playing create instrumentals that speak to listeners and convey thoughts, emotions and imagery, and Up Close also spotlights his singing and sure way with words. “It really boils down to the music and the song at the end of the day,” he explains. “If it doesn’t have that it gets boring for me.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 14th, 2010 at 3:52 pm and is filed under Past Shows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.