James Michael Johnson
I'm the keyboardist and lead singer in the Classic Rock cover band , but I generally write Smooth Jazz and Prog Rock.
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
I grew up in a musical household, with a father who was a full-time piano technician and a part-time country-western fiddler. I started picking out tunes on the piano at the age of three, took lessons from ages 5-9, and started playing in my dad's square dance bands at around twelve. In the Seventies, after a couple short-lived rock bands in high school, several of us formed a popular local dance band which lasted until 1979. We got back together in 2004 as Tin Whiskers.
But, I have always been a fan of Jazz, Fusion and Smooth Jazz, even long before it was called that, not to mention Progressive Rock.
Have you performed live in front of an audience? Any special memories?
I used to play some of Vince Guaraldi's music live in the Seventies. Now I play Classic Rock live with Tin Whiskers, but not Smoth Jazz. Probably the most special moment was the first gig that the old band played in 2005, about a year after we got back together. The audience just went wild, and we knew that we were doing the right thing.
Your musical influences
Vince Guaraldi; David Benoit; Spyro Gyra; Emerson, Lake and Palmer; Blood, Sweat and Tears; Yes; J. S. Bach -- among others.
What equipment do you use?
Instruments: Alesis QS8.1; Roland JX-8P, MT-32, D-110, TR-505; Korg DW-8000, MiniKorg K1; Moog MG-1.
DAW Software (PC): Cockos Reaper; Cool Edit 2000 (yes, it's very old, but still indispensable!).
Anything else?
Snow On Christmas Day is the first original composition that I've released for public consumption. I'm hoping to release more in the near future.
