Turning 25, ERIC JOHNSON Grabbed Guitar Grammy With 'Ah Via Musicom'

Thu

Feb

Artist:

Eric Johnson

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Categories:

Podcasts & Radio

Dallas, TX - February 19, 2015. North American syndicated Rock radio show InTheStudio: The Stories Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands website sits down with the phenomenally gifted guitarist Eric Johnson on the 25th anniversary of his Grammy Award-winning million-selling album Ah Via Musicom.

Eric Johnson's career arc resembles not so much a rainbow but rather an EKG. In the mid-70s Eric played lead guitar in the Austin blink-and-you-miss'em band The Electromagnets and did session work on Cat Stevens' 1978 album Back to Earth. By 1980 Eric had developed an almost mythical reputation as a spectacular guitarist, enough to garner a cover story in Guitar Player magazine even before he had a record deal.

Initially signed to Warner Bros Records, in 1986 Eric Johnson released his highly regarded debut album Tones. Much of the music for his next album had already been written during the Tones sessions, but it would be four more years and a label change before fans would hear it.

In February 1990 Ah Via Musicom was unleashed, selling over a million albums and producing three Top 10 rock radio tracks including the Grammy Award-winning 'Best Rock Instrumental Performance' single, 'Cliffs of Dover'.

Eric's guitar sound and style on Ah Via Musicom would revolutionize a generation of players. InTheStudio host Redbeard asked Eric what it was about his initial boyhood relationship with the guitar that still remains with him today.

'It's like a world you can go to. You can visit this world where all the parameters , all the guidelines and rules, don't really apply. I guess it's sort of a fantasy world, but it turns out reality. You can enter this fantasy world and it will turn out a product of reality sometimes... It was kind of an escape thing. You could go off somewhere and do something you really love and bathe in that sound of it, and not have to operate on the same wavelength in a way.' - Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson Ah Via Musicom/ InTheStudio interview is available now to stream at: 'http://www.inthestudio.net/online-only-interviews/eric-johnson-ah-musicom-25th-anniversary/'

Direct Link to Eric Johnson website: 'http://www.ericjohnson.com'