Coming on the scene in the late ’80s/early ’90s as a new guitar hot shot, Eric Johnson lit up the frets and the music world with a Grammy Award win for his original instrumental, “Cliffs of Dover,” in 1991. Though a multi-instrumentalist of the highest order, he is mostly known for his fluid guitar pyrotechnics.
To be fair, Johnson’s diverse talent may have kept him from being more popular in the wider music world. His albums and performances have explored a lot of genres, from Jazz to Blues and Rock to many other kinds of music, with each song sounding different from the other.
This probably resulted in Johnson not being known for having a signature style that lesser informed music lovers could latch onto and identify. For aficionados who love it when a guitar is in expert hands, ho
wever, Johnson is still considered one of the best in the business and he brings the goods with every performance.
Johnson’s reputation has led to collaborations with musicians such as Chet Atkins, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Jimmie Vaughan, Sonny Landreth, Steve Miller, Jonny Lang and many others. Eric Clapton invited him to play at his first-ever Crossroads Guitar Festival and Johnson has appeared on numerous all-star Experience Hendrix tours.
Johnson and his band come to the Taft Theatre’s Ballroom on the heels of his latest release, Europe Live.
ERIC JOHNSON plays the Ballroom at Taft Theatre at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 5. More info here .