Johnny Campbell was born into a family of fiddlers. So naturally, he started his music career as a … rhythm guitarist?
Johnny’s older brother, Jimmy, was starting a band and had plans for the new kid in the family.
“He was already playing the fiddle so he kind of made me play guitar,” Johnny says. “That’s the first thing a fiddler would need — a rhythm player.”
Jimmy would go on to a very accomplished career, touring the country playing fiddle with such Bluegrass luminaries as Bill Monroe. Back home, Johnny was finding that the fiddle would be his future, too.
“It wasn’t until I was about 10 or so that I finally realized that my dad played fiddle, my brother played fiddle, my grandpa played fiddle,” Johnny says. “I thought, ‘Shoot, I’m a Campbell, too. I better get with it if I want to be part of the family.’ ”
Johnny joined the family legacy, transitioning from guitar to mandolin and finally to fiddle. Thirty-five years later he has his own band, Johnny Campbell & The Bluegrass Drifters, which he formed two years ago in Santa Cruz, Calif., with his wife, Whitney. The couple moved to Nashville and established a new five-piece lineup featuring Jeff Burke (mandolin), Carl Caldwell (guitar) and Chris Carter (banjo).
After many years as a union typesetter, Campbell is now focused full-time on Bluegrass music. The band plays shows every week — from local farmers markets to out-of-town tours. They’ve been busy in the studio, too, readying three albums for release possibly before Christmas, according to Johnny.
“Bluegrass is a big family,” Johnny says. “I’m really excited to be in Nashville, making a living at it.”
JOHNNY CAMPBELL & THE BLUEGRASS DRIFTERS plays at Southgate House Revival Friday, Dec. 5. Find tickets/more info here.
This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2014.