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My New Favorite Group…
By admin | August 21, 2008
Sometime back in the 80’s I quit keeping up with the “top 40”. I really don’t care who sold a million records, or who won Grammys. When I’m driving, my radio is usually tuned to some oldies station, and my CD player will usually have a Leon Russell, Neil Young, Bob Dylan or Beatles CD playing. Even modern country music is starting to sound like really bad rock and roll.
Oh well, enough ranting. What I really wanted to talk about is how there is still a lot of talent out there, and how if you search around on some of the Indie labels, you can be very pleasantly surprised. Some of the best talent does not use advertising and eye candy designed to implant a hook in your brain. There are actually some groups that still make very, very good music. Artist who choose create something unique, who do not follow the leaders, who express themselves and make you feel something you have never felt before.
Johnson Family is one of those groups. I have two of their CD’s. “The Ride of your Life” and “Walk On”. And they are my new favorite group for lots of reasons.
It’s hard to put them in a category. I think some of their influences are probably from bluegrass groups like the Issacs. Their image is quite traditional, but they evoke an energy that goes way, way beyond any bluegrass-traditional music you have ever heard. There are four female vocalist who have some of the tightest harmony this side if heaven. They are sisters, and as you would expect, their voices are all similar. Sometimes when they sing together it has a “stacked” sound, like when a vocalist records his/her own voice over and over again in the studio. But I do not think they are using stacks…I think they are actually producing this sound with four (sometimes 5 when dad sings) distinct voices.
The result is an angelic sound, but with a hint of blues. Perfection, but with just enough note bending, chordal movement, and vocal acrobatics to give them a wonderful organic, sometimes worldly rawness.
One of the other interesting things about this group is the accompaniment. No tracks, no orchestrations, nothing to distract from the vocals. What we do have is a very well played acoustic guitar. Most times a nice finger picking style, sometimes a hint of jazz, but always extremely tasteful and intertwined perfectly with the lovely ladies’ voices. Richard Johnson plays the guitar, and also sings, too. His low rich baritone voice is a nice contrast to the ladies voices.
The amazing thing is with just this one instrument, each song manages to take on a separate life. The CDs never bog down, each song stands on its own. The style changes from one song to the next leaving you in anticipation for what they will come up with next. It takes a lot of talent and musical background to keep this level of quality up on song after song. It’s easy for artist to fall into the repetition trap (listen to 90% of pop music for examples), but each song is nurtured here, and given a lot of love and attention so you get taken on a musical journey that just keeps getting better.
Did I mention they write their own songs? Looking at the liner notes, it appears that everyone in the group is a writer. The words are often very poetic, and there are quite a few personal testimonies. Their relationship with Christ described with real life metaphors. And ideas that make you smile and think. Hopeful tunes, encouraging and very smart lyrics. One of Richard’s lines from “The Gospel According to You” says:
“You’re writing a gospel chapter a day by the deeds that you do and the words that you say”.
Good stuff!
Their website is: The Johnson Family Music
And you can hear some of their music on Myspace at: The Johnson Family on Myspace
There’s a tremendous amount of talent in this little group. Be sure and check them out…
Topics: Music, Uncategorized |
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