Jan Johansson
Jan (pronounced Yahn) was born in Skelleftea, Sweden in 1958 and began playing acoustic music at the age of 14. He started playing the guitar in 1972 and moved to the fiddle and mandolin by the time he was 18. Jan moved to NC in 1989 after three years of traveling back and forth between the two countries and began working as a freelance translator and music instructor.
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
Jan and his bands have been recognized by IBMA nomination 1994 as Emerging Band of the Year. 1993 SPGMA World Champion band1993 Pizza Hut Bluegrass Showdown International ChampionsIn 2001 Jan was instrumental in putting together the Amazing Grace Bluegrass Festival at the North Raleigh Hilton a fundraiser for Russian orphans. The stellar line up included IIIrd Tyme Out, Larry Sparks, Country Gentlemen, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Lonesome Rive Band, Blue Highway, Mountain Heart, James King, Grass Cats, Carolina Road, Bass Mountain Boys, Al Batten, Tims Family and the Stringfellows .
In an attempt to raise more funds for the Russian orphans Jan has recorded a benefit Bluegrass Gospel Album, The Amazing Grace Project. On this album he has managed to gather most of the artists who performed at the Amazing Grace Bluegrass Festival plus a number of other high profile performers like Ricky Skaggs, Paul Brewster, The Whites, David Grisman, Kenny and Amanda Smith, Laurie Lewis, Tom Rozum, Bobby Hicks, Bill Evans, Honi Deaton, Kathy Kallick, Jim Nunally, Anna Lund, Kim Gardner, Tom Langdon, Darrin Vincent, Andy Leftwich, Lou Reid, Carolina Road Band, Butch Robins, Julie Elkins & Kanes River, Bernie Petteway, Rick Lassiter, The Kinton Sisters, Gena Britt and Denise Hering.
Your musical influences
Jans music and teaching style have been influenced over the years by a number of styles and musicians. The long list includes Bill Monroe, Clarence White, Kenny Baker, Bobby Hicks, Scott Stoneman, David Grisman, Tony Rice, Flatt & Scruggs, Stanley Brothers, John Renbourne, Leo Kottke, Roland White, Vassar Clements, Mike Compton, Ed Butler, Danny Gotham, Flatt & Scruggs, Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Davy Graham, John Mayall, Richard Greene, Julie Elkins, Russell Johnson, Gena Britt, Earl Lewellyn, Kurt Viklund,Hans Hedström, Bert Viklund, Mats Nyström, Thomas Haglund, Robert Blankenship, Frank Buchanan, Jerry Stuart, Rick Lassiter, Bernie Petteway, Clyde Franklin, Davy Graham, Beatles, Robert Johnson, Eric Clapton, Mange Norrman, Bert Lundin, Carl Caldwell, Swedish traditional as well as pop music.
