Eric Johnson is probably best known for his amazing guitar work on the single “Cliffs of Dover” from the 1990 album release Ah Via Musicom. But what few people know is that Eric is also proficient on acoustic, lap steel, resonator and bass guitar. Apart from that, he’s an accomplished vocalist and piano player. This makes him, as Guitar Player Magazine puts it, one of the most respected guitar players in the world. At the very core he remains a rock guitarist, however his career has seen him venture off into the likes of jazz, fusion, blues and classical music.
According to Eric, one of the main reasons for starting to explore jazz was to break out of his comfort zone. “I guess a comfort zone is just re-doing everything you know, over and over“. He explains his lead guitar playing to be more about chord changes and playing the notes that fall inside those chord shapes. “If you were to rethink your thought process and forget everything but chords, then the sky’s the limit“. He stresses that it’s also important to study some of the older players like Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian. “It’s not fast and furious, so you can get inside of it“.
Eric is definitely a “guitarists guitarist” and maybe it’s his massive vocabulary on the instrument that attracts people from around 8 to 60 years of age to his live shows. However, he argues that the most important thing is that you have something to say musically. “I don’t think too many people are interested in hearing someone go crazy on the guitar unless it was someone who was really re-inventive and had something strong musically to say. “If you just learn the book and study the radio, you’re just going to be working out of your mind and it won’t have the same depth or impact when people hear it. So if you try to develop that intuitive sense of music, you’re seeking mechanism will try to find things that will respond on that frequency. I think that’s the frequency that everybody responds to in the more sublime sense – it’s good to get into that thing.”
Eric’s favorite places to perform are old wooden theaters because, according to him, they have a certain “vibe” because of their history. But he’s really open to playing anywhere as long as the setting is comfortable. A good show for Eric means forgetting about himself and letting the music take over. “When you feel the rhythm and just let go and let things just happen naturally – usually the magic will happen then. It’s when you go on stage pre-planned and your clinching with your own agenda that you’re really limited.” In terms of the setlist, Eric likes to switch songs around from time to time, although 85% of the time he performs the same setlist while on a particular tour.
Prior to a show, you will find Eric warming up with some practice techniques and trying to get into a frame of mind free of stress, worry and expectations. He believes that you shouldn’t get too calculated about what to expect from a performance. “I like to just let go and get focused.” Even though Eric is a centered performer, his approach to recording his latest album release Live in Europe was rather interesting…
“I was in Europe doing this tour and the record label that I work with asked if I wanted to record some of the shows just for the heck of it and I said, ‘sure’. I didn’t really think of it like we were going to release a record. The crew that came just set up their computer gear backstage with a couple lines off-stage, and I didn’t even think about it. I don’t even say anything about recording live on the record. I almost completely forgot we were doing it. They followed us around for three days in a truck with all their gear. So I didn’t think of it as doing a live record, we were just recording some live takes for fun, in my mind. Then, when we got home and put them on, there was some stuff that wasn’t that good and some of it was really cool, but we figured we had enough material to make a record, and the label from Europe wanted to do it. It was a good process for me, because I kind of study that vibe of playing live and it made me interested in playing live more; even when in the studio, playing live more rather than a ton of overdubs. There’s a vibe that happens, and I think people appreciate that. They don’t want to just remark on something that’s been polished into oblivion. They want to feel it.”
Sources:
http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/eric-johnson-and-mike-stern-talk-joint-album-eclectic-615765
http://www.bostonbeats.com/Interviews/InterviewJohnsonE.htm
http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/show_interview.php?id=1063
