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Damon Johnson

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Damon Johnson
Johnson performing with Black Star Riders 2014 in Munich at the Free & Easy Festival
Johnson performing with Black Star Riders 2014 in Munich at the Free & Easy Festival
Background information
Birth nameDamon Rogers Johnson
Born(1964-07-13)July 13, 1964 (Age 50)
Macon, Georgia
United States
GenresHard rock, southern rock, heavy metal, country, country rock
Occupation(s)Musician
Songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active1988–present
Websitewww.damonjohnson.com

Damon Rogers Johnson (born July 13, 1964) is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, currently a member of hard rock bands Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders. In the 1990s he co-founded Brother Cane, and later joined Alice Cooper's band as lead guitarist. He was also the lead guitarist and co-vocalist for country music group Whiskey Falls. Johnson has released two solo albums and regularly performs as a solo artist. His songs have been recorded by many artists including Stevie Nicks and Carlos Santana.

Early career

Johnson lived in Monroeville, Alabama during his grade school years. It was there that he became obsessed with guitar and formed his first garage band with other 8th grade friends, Pat Buskill, Mac Baker, Allen Nettles and Troy Dobbins. He later moved with his family to Geraldine, Alabama where he graduated high school, all the while playing in various bands in the northeast Alabama area.

An offer to join Split the Dark, an established band fronted by former members of the power-pop band Hotel, prompted Johnson's move to Birmingham, Alabama in 1987. Split the Dark was a very popular act on the Southeast US college club circuit, and had won the MTV "Basement Tapes" competition in 1986 but failed to secure a record deal. He would later get his first taste of "bands with record deals" as the guitarist for the Atlanta, Georgia band Witness in 1988, and with the Memphis, Tennessee band, Delta Rebels, in 1989. During this time he also performed with the bands Chinatown and Chyld. It was with Chyld that Johnson garnered the attention of the A&R at Virgin Records. After securing a developmental deal in November 1990, the label eventually persuaded Johnson to take over the lead vocal position, and change the band's name to Brother Cane.

Brother Cane

It was Brother Cane that would bring Johnson genuine national notoriety. The band released three albums on Virgin Records (the self-titled debut which sold 250,000 copies, Seeds, and Wishpool) that would yield three #1 singles on rock radio ("Got No Shame", "And Fools Shine On", and "I Lie in the Bed I Make"). "And Fools Shine On" was also featured in the horror film Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. Brother Cane toured extensively as a headliner and also as a supporting act on tours by Van Halen, Aerosmith, Robert Plant, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Candlebox. After what Virgin Records considered an unsatisfactory yield for record sales, the band was released from their contract, and amicably disbanded in 1998.

In 2005, Brother Cane reunited to perform two shows. A live DVD is also in the works.

Post Brother Cane

Shortly before Brother Cane split, Johnson contributed songwriting and guitar duties to Sammy Hagar's Marching to Mars album in 1997. He later recorded an all-acoustic solo album, mostly consisting of his own compositions, (Dust - released in 2000). He also released albums with two different side projects (Slave to the System in 2001 and Red Halo in 2003) and played electric and acoustic guitars on Faith Hill's smash hit single, "Cry" in 2002.[1]

Johnson briefly joined the band Damn Yankees with Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw, and Ted Nugent, and recorded an album that was never released.[2] He also performed as lead guitarist for legendary rock vocalist John Waite during 2001–2003. In 2006, Johnson joined the country rock band Whiskey Falls. In 2009, Johnson was confirmed as a collaborator/performer for Queensrÿche's 10th studio album American Soldier.[3]

Johnson co-wrote the song "Every Day" for Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks, which was released as the first single from her solo album, Trouble in Shangri-La in 2001. He also co-wrote the Carlos Santana song "Just Feel Better" with Jamie Houston and Buck Johnson, which featured vocalist Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.[4] In 2010, Johnson recorded his own versions of both songs, which were included on his second acoustic solo album, Release, which also features a duet with his daughter Sarah Marlo Johnson as well as a guest appearance by Alice Cooper on vocal and harmonica.

Alice Cooper

Johnson was recruited for Alice Cooper's band in 2004. He co-wrote and recorded with Alice Cooper on his album Dirty Diamonds and toured with the band from 2004 to 2007, leaving to commit to his new band, Whiskey Falls. Johnson returned to the Alice Cooper Band in the summer of 2009, and was featured in Cooper's 2010 live concert DVD & CD, Theatre of Death – Live at Hammersmith. Johnson worked his fifth tour with Alice Cooper in 2011, and departed the band in September of that year to become a full member of Thin Lizzy. Cooper is also credited with assisting greatly in Johnson's beloved golf game, as the two played hundreds of rounds in their years of touring the world together.[5]

Thin Lizzy

In 2011, while playing with Alice Cooper, Johnson received a call from Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham, inviting him to replace temporary guitarist Richard Fortus in the band. He had been a fan of the band since seeing them perform in 1979, and with Cooper's blessing,[6] Johnson accepted and toured around the world with Thin Lizzy until early 2013. The line-up also included original drummer Brian Downey and keyboardist Darren Wharton. Johnson had always been influenced by the band: "Thin Lizzy has colored my career musically and in every aspect – as a performer, as a guitarist, as a songwriter."[7] Gorham was very pleased with Johnson's appointment: "Everybody loves him to death. It's like a big happy family traveling all over the world again."[8]

By 2012, Thin Lizzy were working towards recording new material, but the band members had doubts about recording new songs under the Thin Lizzy name without the band's original frontman Phil Lynott. Johnson later said that, if he were not in the band, he would not have been happy to see new recordings being released without Lynott.[7] So the group decided to record under a different name and put Thin Lizzy on hiatus.

Black Star Riders

In December 2012, Johnson co-founded the Thin Lizzy spin-off band, Black Star Riders.[9] whose first album All Hell Breaks Loose was released in May 2013.[10] Johnson developed a songwriting partnership with frontman Ricky Warwick and the pair co-wrote all the songs on the album: "I joined Thin Lizzy because I wanted to play those great songs with Scott Gorham and Brian Downey. But let me be clear about this – I'm in the Black Star Riders because of Ricky Warwick."[11]

After touring across Europe, the US and Japan throughout 2013 and the first half of 2014, Black Star Riders recorded their second album, The Killer Instinct, scheduled for release in February 2015.[12] Johnson stated: "The days of me hopscotching back to Alice Cooper or a Slave to the System album are past. This is the best band I've ever been in. We’re firing on all cylinders."[7]

After many years of performing solo acoustic shows in the US alongside his other commitments, Johnson played his first solo show in the UK, at The Iron Road in Evesham on 14 October 2014.[13]

Discography

Albums

Other songwriting contributions:

References

  1. ^ "Interview: Thin Lizzy Guitarist Damon Johnson on Musical Diversity and the Art of Listening". Guitarworld. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  2. ^ "Interview with Damon Johnson". Sick Things UK. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  3. ^ "QUEENSRŸCHE: More 'American Soldier' Details Revealed". 12 February 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  4. ^ "Damon Johnson: Hard Work Pays Off - A JAM Magazine Exclusive Interview". JAM magazine. February 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  5. ^ "The Road". damonjohnson.com. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Interview: Black Star Riders Guitarist Damon Johnson Talks 'All Hell Breaks Loose' and Living Up to Thin Lizzy's Legacy". Guitarworld. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  7. ^ a b c "Damon Johnson on playing in Thin Lizzy spin-off Black Star Riders: 'We're crushing it every night.'". al.com. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Scott Gorham on Thin Lizzy playing Wolverhampton Civic Hall". Wolverhampton Express & Star. 20 December 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  9. ^ "Thin Lizzy to End, Black Star Riders to Begin". noise11.com. 20 December 2012.
  10. ^ "Black Star Riders announce debut album title". Black Star Riders official website. 8 March 2013.
  11. ^ "Lynott's legacy lives on – introducing the Black Star Riders". Malcolm Wyatt. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  12. ^ "Black Star Riders to record new album this fall". Metal Underground. 27 January 2014.
  13. ^ "American guitarist to rock Evesham". Evesham Journal. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.

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