HIT CHANNEL EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: January 2025. We had the great honor to talk with a legendary guitarist: Eric Johnson. He is most well-known for the “Cliffs of Dover” single which won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. As an acclaimed solo artist he has released many exciting albums such as “Ah Via Musicom” (1990), “Venus Isle” (1996) and “The Book of Making”/ “Yesterday Meets Today” (2022). In 1996 he participated in the first G3 tour with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. G3 just release their “Reunion Live” album on earMusic from their 2024 reunion tour. Read below the very interesting things he told us:
How emotional was it for you to do the G3 Reunion Tour in 2024?
Oh, it was nice to reconnect with Joe and Steve and it had been a while and in a way it was like we were just picking it up from where we left off. Yeah, a lot have changed and we were able to bring all our new thoughts and what we’ve learned about music in our journey together, so, it was heart-warming thing, it was nice.
“Desert Rose” is your first single from “Reunion Live”. Does this song capture the true spirit of an Eric Johnson performance in 2024?
I think so. Yeah, you know, I thought it was ok. I probably played it better live before but it was a pretty good performance I think.
On “Reunion Live” we can also find a cover to Chris Kenner’s “Land of 1000 Dances” that you play for years in your concerts. What’s so special about this song?
Oh, I love that song, it’s just great. I wish I could sing like Wilson Pickett (ed: he covered it in 1966), but I can’t, so, I had to do it instrumental. I don’t know, it’s just a feelgood thing; it’s the stuff that I grew up on. I grew up on all that old music from the late ‘60s and I just love the way it feels.
Why did you dedicate “Trail of Tears” from “Reunion Live” to the Native Americans?
“Trail of Tears” is a historical event that happened from the Carolinas all the way over to Oklahoma where the land was taken away from the Native Americans and in exchange they were given much less productive land. It was a tragedy, they had to walk 1.500 miles to this desert type of land and it’s not a good part of history of the US that sometimes people don’t talk about.
Is “Freeway Jam” from “Reunion Live” a kind of homage to Jeff Beck?
Absolutely, I love Jeff Beck and it’s a fun song to play. I love the way Jeff just kept innovating guitar; every year he would do some different. It’s my tribute to him and I love the way he used the tremolo bar and stuff, this is cool. When I was a kid, he was in The Yardbirds and that was when I really started getting serious about guitar, just hearing what he did. He really inspired Jimi Hendrix a lot. A lot of the things that Jimi did -of course, Jimi took them beyond the stars-, Jeff Beck had started them in The Yardbirds and he invented the whole thing, that didn’t exist before him and he had such a personality in his playing. I think that’s why if you are to poll a lot of non-guitarists, just people, a lot of them they tend to emotionally relate to Jeff maybe better than some of us guitarists that just play about the licks, because he was so musical.
How exciting was it to do the encore jam with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai on stage every night?
It was great, I loved it. Joe wanted to do “Born to Be Wild” (Steppenwolf), Steve wanted to do “Crossroads” (ed: Cream, originally by Robert Johnson) and I asked if we could do “Spanish Castle Magic”. When I was 30 years old, we used to play “Born to Be Wild”, so, it was like coming back to that tune many years later (laughs). But, yeah, you never knew what was happening every night, we were just making it up on as we were going.
Did you listen to the 4LP gatefold edition of “Reunion Live” album? This will be a treat for every listener!
I did listen to it; I listened to it along the way while it’s being put together, but I thought it turned out nice.
What should fans expect from the upcoming Experience Hendrix tour that you play on?
Well, it’s always a treat to play Jimi’s music and on each tour I try to do something a little bit different and in our music I try to pick tunes that are the ones that I really love, that maybe are not his biggest hits, just to round it up with all the wonderful hits. I enjoy doing some of the ones that are off the beaten path a little bit.
Is there an update on your next studio album?
I’m working on one, right now. I’ve got a bunch of tracks and I hope to have it finished before the end of the year. It will be an electric one.
Will you have any special guests?
Oh, yeah, probably so! I haven’t figured it out yet, I cut the basic tracks but I would love to have some special guests, yeah.
How much did the Covid affect the release of “The Book of Making” and “Yesterday Meets Today” (2022) albums?
You know, when Covid hit and nobody was getting together for a long time, I just went to my tape closet and I started pulling out things I had never finished. So, I spent a lot of time by myself overdubbing and redoing songs that I already had started and some of them were just demos on cassette tapes and I would transfer them to digital. Yeah, it was all over the map and once Covid started letting up its restrictions, there are probably 6 or 7 tunes on the record that were brand new that I added to it. But yeah, a lot of it was done when I was in quarantine. I had something to do, so, I didn’t just sit around doing nothing, I guess (laughs).
I love “Maha” from “Yesterday Meets Today”. How did this come about?
It’s a riff that I had. This was like a Mahavishu type of thing, so I just called it “Maha”.
Was your Austin City Limits performance in 1984 a catalyst for your career?
It was, because, we were doing ok, but that gave us a little bit more national recognition, so, I could go out and play more shows in other states. It also got the interest of some record companies that gave me a chance to make my first record.
How natural was it for you to record “S.R.V.” from “Venus Isle” (1996) album as a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan?
Yeah, it was just something I wanted to do. When he passed away I, all of a sudden, was getting this idea of a part that was a kind of requiem for him and I was honored to have Jimmie (ed: Vaughan -guitarist and Stevie’s brother) play a little bit on it. Yeah, it was something that I just wanted to offer.
You and Stevie used to jam together in each other’s shows. What memories do you have from him?
We didn’t jam that much, we did a little bit. We played 6-7 shows together and we hung a little bit, he was obviously a great talent, but he was also a very sweet, friendly guy. Very humble, just normal, sweet guy. No pretention, just a nice guy.
How much has your approach to guitar changed over the years?
Well, I ‘m just trying to stay interested in all sorts of different styles that I can just remain a student and keep learning. My approach is really to just try to make it sound as good as I can and to remember to try to play melodically.
Was it an interesting experience to play at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2004?
It was an honor to do that. Yeah, it was great. There were so many great players there.
Are you proud of the Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster series by Fender?
Yeah, I like them. I think they try to cover all the bases. I like the Stratocaster but there are a few things about it that I thought I could make it a little bit more versatile for me, at least, so that I tried to implement those in it and I think it worked out pretty well.
How did you come up with the idea to make “Eclectic” album with Mike Stern in 2014?
Well, first off, we got together to do some shows, so, we put a band together and we did a tour and then we decided to make a record. Mike is great, he is a great player, he is also such a really good songwriter. Mike can write great songs, beautiful ballads.
I guess you had a lot of fun doing Hendrix’s “Red House” with Mike Stern. Didn’t you?
Yeah, it was fun! Yeah, it was. Mike wanted to do that, he enjoyed playing that song. We usually played that song for encore when we toured together and he always loved playing it.
How different is the dynamics between your acoustic playing and the electric one?
Oh, it’s really different. It’s a whole different technique because I like to fingerpick on acoustic and if I’m gonna play acoustic, I have to sit and woodshed it for a long time to get that back, because it’s a really different approach and technique. I usually get pretty rusty if I ‘ve been playing electric mostly.
What is the secret of your lasting friendship and collaboration with Roscoe Beck (bass), Tommy Taylor (drums) and Kyle Brock (bass)?
Tommy and Kyle, we did all the music stuff and touring together and there is just a lot of history there. Roscoe and I have been playing off and on since I was -jeez!- 20 years old. All of us we are lifelong partners in this musical journey and depending on everybody’s schedule we come together and do stuff or they go off and do something else or whatever, but we always return and work together.
How much impact did the James Taylor show featuring Michael Landau (guitar) you watched had on “EJ Vol. II” (2020) album?
I love James Taylor, he is great. He is absolutely great, he is a great guitarist. He doesn’t come out and say: “Hey, look at me, I’m playing great guitar!”, but if you study what he’s doing, it’s wonderful and his band is top notch! Michael Landau is one of my favorite electric guitar players because he is so good and so versatile, but he also knows how to play with someone like James Taylor. Here you’ve got a guy that can shred like crazy but he is serving the song, he knows how to fit in the song, he creates sonic landscapes. He really knows the depth of what is required for the guitar to make the best music and yeah, that’s inspiring to me.
You are probably the first guitarist who was influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Bill Connors (Return to Forever), John McLaughlin, Wes Montgomery and Stevie Wonder, all together. Did this fact make your playing style so unique?
Ah, you named all my heroes! I think anybody’s style is unique. Imitation is a beautiful form of flattery, we all learn from somebody and if you look closely at any players you like they have certain influences and they sound like their heroes. So, all the people you mentioned are so wonderful, but they are the specific people that I used to make to my own recipe; somebody else would use different people. So, those people are always in the back of my mind because these are the building blocks that are essential for me.
How important is improvisation to you?
I think for my music it’s important. Obviously, I don’t think it’s always important. It just depends on the type of music that somebody is doing and for the type of music that I try to do, it has the most verve, the most animated emotion to it if I leave room for improvisation.
Tony Williams (drums) came out from Boston and joined Miles Davis when he was 17 years old. Are there those kinds of opportunities today?
I think so. I think definitely. It’s a different climate now, it’s a lot harder for musicians to make a living. It’s harder for people to just become very established. I grandfather all sorts of young great musicians, but I think it continues and it still goes on. There is always a way to make things proliferate and keep going, it’s just the complexion of how it all changes, but people find a way. There are a lot of young players that are magnificent so, they will usher in all sorts of different people under their wing.
I’ve read that at high school your playing was already so advanced that you couldn’t find musicians at your age to play with. Is it true?
Well, I don’t know, there were people… I was playing with a bunch of really good musicians when I was at high school, they were a few years older than me, particularly. But from my experience, people of all ages have something really special. You can go on Youtube and see these people that play “Cliffs of Dover” better than me and they are 5 years old (laughs). I don’t know where they get it.
Did you have a good time jamming with Andy Timmons on “Zap” and “Steppin’ Out” (Cream) at the 2023 Dallas International Guitar Festival. I watched your whole set on Youtube. It was amazing!
Yeah, it was always fun. Andy is great! I like Andy a lot.
I did an interview in 2023 with Jorma Kaukonen (guitar) from Jefferson Airplane and he told me that as you are getting older you find yourself following more rules in songwriting because you know more about music. Do you agree with this?
Yeah, I think so. You ‘ve learned more about music as you ‘ve had all those years to delve into and experiment and you also start realizing that that’s really what is about: The music. It’s great to have any kind of wonderful playing of an instrument, but it can overshadow the music. If you do, then people would hear it and they’d marvel at intimately, but they won’t necessarily become to it emotionally as much. The overshadowing will delude the emotional content if you are not careful.
Is Artificial Intelligence a threat to original artists like you? I mean someone can type now to AI platforms: “Write me a song like Eric Johnson’s ‘Cliffs of Dover’”?
You know, I’d like to hear some of that because I’ve heard the Zeppelin thing and it’s crazy. I’ve heard a handful of things on AI and it’s scary; it is like: “Who knows what is gonna happen?” I don’t know, I think there is always gonna be a niche where people are gonna hear people play real instruments performing in real time, but to your point, I think there are gonna be a lot of applications of music where the AI things are gonna be good enough, like: “Yeah, that works fine. Why do we need real musicians?”
But it lacks the soul. When I listen to you, when I listen to Jimi Hendrix and I listen to Santana, I can see the soul of the artist.
Yeah and I hope that it always remains. Have you heard the ‘50s Zeppelin thing of the second record (ed: “Led Zeppelin II, as if it was recorded in the ’50”)? Somebody sent it to me and I said: “This is really great!” and then he wrote me back and said: “Well, it’s all AI” and I said: “No, don’t tell me that!” (laughs) I’m hoping maybe sometimes when I hear something that’s really good, I don’t stand back enough and think: “What is that soul content? How much emotion is there?” But I would imagine on repeated listenings you would probably feel that it didn’t have as much soul to it.
Do you think because of the streaming services listening to an album from start to finish is now becoming a kind of lost art?
Absolutely and not only that, because there are so many options. They release 120.000 songs a day or something, you are just not gonna get the attention, unless you have something incredibly unique. I don’t think you are gonna get the attention because there is too much.
Do you have any musical ambitions left?
Yeah, I’m just trying to write better music. I want to improve as a guitarist as far as my harmonic vocabulary and I would like to write more impactful music.
Why don’t you tour in Europe that often?
Well, we are trying right now, we are trying to get over there in October. So, everybody that wants to hire us, we are available (laughs).
Ron Carter (Miles Davis Quintet -double bass) told me: “The first take in the studio is always the best, because the first time you play the music, the second time you play yourself”. Do you agree with this?
Oh, that’s beautiful, that’s really well-said! I’ve got to remember that, that’s very well-said. I agree.
Is there any good autobiography or a documentary about an artist that you enjoyed?
I read the Miles Davis one (ed: “Miles -The Autobiography” -1989), that was pretty cool and I read about half the Keith Richards’ one (ed: “Life” -2010), I didn’t read the whole thing, but I ‘ve read a lot of the Jimi Hendrix’s ones. Those were very great.
Jimi Hendrix’s music, George Harrison’s music, Santana’s music had also a strong spiritual aspect. Is today’s music spiritual?
Yeah, I think there is a lot of it that is, maybe not always. It just depends on the agenda of the musician. It’s just like when you go to see a film, you can tell what the director’s intention is. “I wanna make something that’s an action picture, just to be candy for the eye” like: “Oh, look at all this crazy stuff going on!” There are the ones who want to create suspense or make you fearful, they are pushing your buttons, but I’ve always personally enjoyed musicians, poets and film producers that think: “Oh man, I’ve got this agenda that I want to turn people on and I want to make them wider and higher. I want to use these two hours or this one hour and thirty minutes to open their mind and heart and take them to a new window”. I just think that’s great, that’s what’s so great about Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles and their lyrics. There are new artists that they are doing that, I don’t think everybody’s agenda is that. Some people have a different agenda, but I love that agenda because it’s a rare opportunity to have that voice and that moment to reach out to somebody. If I am walking up to somebody, I’d rather shake their hands and push them away, it’s my opportunity for 30 seconds, so, what I’m gonna do with that 30 seconds?
Who is the musician you had the best musical interaction on stage with?
Oh, I loved playing with BB King, it was fine. I love playing with Sonny Landreth. I did a few shows recently with Michael Landau, that was great. And with Andy Timmons. Yeah, there are a lot of them. There is a wonderful keyboard player in Austin named Sean Giddings and he is a joy to play with.
What was it like to grow up in Austin in the late ‘60s?
It was great, I didn’t realize how great it was. There were wonderful guitarists: John Staehely, Jim Mings, Johnny Richardson. I learned to play from all these guys, they were just great! And of course, then there was Stevie Ray, David Grissom and Van Wilks. It was a real center for guitar players.
Did you like ZZ Top?
Yeah, Billy Gibbons (guitar, vocals), he’s great. We have played a little bit together.
Do you like jam bands like Gov’t Mule and Phish?
Yeah. I really like Tedeschi Trucks Band, they are great.
A huge “THANK YOU” to Mr. Eric Johnson for his time. I should also thank Joel Phillips for his valuable help.
Official G3 website: https://www.g3tour.com/
Official Eric Johnson website: https://www.ericjohnson.com/
Official Eric Johnson Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialEricJohnson/