Nedra Johnson
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play lo-fi play hi-fi  Working Hard for the Joneses
play lo-fi play hi-fi  Ahha (It's A Good Thing)
play lo-fi play hi-fi  So Good, So Far
play lo-fi play hi-fi  Prozac (So Fun Living, Not A Moment Dull)
play lo-fi play hi-fi  New Boy Blues
play lo-fi play hi-fi  The World Could Stop Turning
play lo-fi play hi-fi  Michfest Blues
play lo-fi play hi-fi  Let Go (It's All Right)
play lo-fi play hi-fi  Forever With Me
play lo-fi play hi-fi  Scooter Phat (featuring God-Des)
Nedra Johnson in a singer/songwriter multi-instrumentalist born & living in New York City. Her unique style of guitar playing is unmistakibly informed by her many years as a professional bassist and keeps her live solo acoustic performances more on an R&B tip then what one might expect of a "girl with a guitar."

Nedra's self-titled sophomore release is a joyful mix of R&B, funk, rock and gospel. Honest in integrity to the music as well as the lyrical content, each song is a testimony of her experience as a black openly lesbian woman in love, spirituality, community and or politics. From the first song "Ahha (It's A Good Thing)" on through to the Maxine Feldman tribute version of "Amazon", this is proudly womyn's music and a great example of how Nedra has grown as a writer, arranger, producer and musician. Featuring lush background vocals and danceable grooves, Nedra makes the personal political and the erotic downright spiritual.

Nedra has performed internationally at jazz, blues, pride & women's music festivals as solo artist and a tuba player/vocalist with her father Howard Johnson & his group, Gravity. She surprised and impressed jazz audiences in Paris, Nime, Berlin, Vienna, Kassel, Macedonia, Muchen, Leverkusen, Los Angeles, New York & New Orleans when she put down her tuba and sang original songs with Gravity garnering such praises as from The Orange County Register, "A little thing [an original from the CD Testify ] called Working Hard for the Joneses had the crowd on its feet and whooping." As a soloist, she has performed in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Oakland, Cleveland, Madison, Chicago, New Caledonia and more!

Whether in front of an intimate audience such as at New York City's Rockwood Music Hall or a large festival audience of 7000 like Michigan Womyn's Music Festival , Nedra has the ability to perform with both a strength and a vulnerability that makes each listener feel like they are getting to know her on a personal level. Her thoughtful choice of words reflect not only who she is but speak to the heart in a way that mirrors emotions most find difficult to express.
Do you play live?
Yes, definitely. I live in NY so mostly in NY at Rockwood or the Knitting Factory these day. My special moments are mostly from festivals. At fests there are usually larger audiences and for women's festivals in particular it's just so cool to connect with other artists.
How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?
I think it makes it possible and easier for people to put their work out independently. Though I also think that it's overwhelming and easy to get lost if that is the only way you are putting yourself out there. It's a good stepping stone, but I don't think it's much more than that.
Would you sign a record contract with a major label?
It would depend on the offer. I know someone who signed with a label and they shelved her project and held up those songs to where she couldn't even put them out herself without buying them back or waiting ten years.

But on the real, I have never really had much hope for the industry in that way. I don't exactly fit in with their traditional marketing scheme. And I don't think they want to work. Though I think with the right amount of money behind me, I could sell some records. (I guess, records is old school nowadays...)
Your influences?
I listen to everything really. You know how some people say that and then go "except country...or opera..." If I had a multi-disc changer you could find me stocked with Jill Scott, Louis Jordan, Sly & The Family Stone, Taj Mahal, Howard Johnson & Gravity, Monk, Nirvana, Tim McGraw, Ferron, Phoebe Snow, 7 Seconds, Social Distortion, Tribe 8, Audio Slave, Verdi Requiem, Ravi Shankar, Bulgarian Women's Choir, Tupac, Transcedence Gospel Choir, I mean alla that is stuff I listen to and can mix randomly and be cool with... and of course there is more... So I've had people listen to my CD and bug out some on the variety genre wise as if there is some unwritten rule that you have to make your whole CD sound just alike from song to song. I think the mix works well and it is very much me...
Favorite spot?
New York & Paris... I'm still holding on to the Big Apple, but it's not what it used to be. Paris... there is just something romantic about Paris...
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