Justin Time Records Signs New Orleans-Based Blues/Rock Guitarist Brent Johnson; Debut CD, "Set the World on Fire," Due April 8 & Features Specials Guests Alvin Youngblood Hart & Sonny Landreth

Justin Time Records Signs New Orleans-Based Blues/Rock Guitarist Brent Johnson

Debut CD, Set the World on Fire, Set for April 8 & Features Specials Guests Alvin Youngblood Hart & Sonny Landreth

MONTREAL, CANADA – Canadian label Justin Time Records announces the signing of New Orleans-based blues/rock guitarist Brent Johnson and will release his debut album, Set the World on Fire, on April 8. Johnson is backed on the new CD by his road-tested band of Bill Blok (bass, backing vocals), John Perkins (drums) and Wayne Lohr (keyboards), along with special guest guitarists Alvin Youngblood Hart, who adds his scintillating touch on three tracks, and legendary slide master Sonny Landreth on one song. Set the World on Fire was produced by Brent Johnson and recorded/mixed by Ben Lorio at The Music Shed in New Orleans.

“My sound is rooted in the blues, though I don't pretend to be a purist, and I don't want to be," Johnson explains. “I write music based on my experiences and the sounds I grew up with; I never want to pretend that I had the same experiences as the old bluesmen did, so I'm not going to go around trying to sound like them. What I do is put the emphasis on the feeling of the music, the passion, the urgency, the directness - that's the goal.”

Brent Johnson has achieved his goal quite admirably on the appropriately-titled Set the World on Fire, as he burns up the speakers with an incendiary mix of both electric guitar and slide guitar sounds on the album’s 11 cuts, including seven originals and covers of “Meet Me in the Morning” (Bob Dylan), “Meet Me in the Bottom” (Howlin’ Wolf), “As the Years Go Passing By” (Albert King) and “The Hucklebuck” (Paul Williams). Justin Time Records owner Jim West has been a longtime fan and gave Brent free rein over the material and production. As this is his first album release, Brent is looking forward to releasing and touring these original songs and feeling the reaction to his work from an audience.

Brent describes himself as “always a guitar slinger ... I always loved songwriters and wrote songs for myself.” Interestingly, despite an omnivorous musical appetite and a very distinct love of blues, Brent, when pushed, would list his four favorite songwriters as eclectic Houston guitarist Chris Whitley, Austin's own Ian Moore, (a writer himself influenced by world, folk and blues music), along with British stalwarts Elvis Costello and Joe Strummer. He describes his favorite music as “raw, honest and dirty.”

Johnson’s passionate vocals and soulfully powerful guitar work shines throughout the new album. On “Meet Me in the Morning,” he and Alvin Youngblood Hart trades licks in a serious blues guitar conversation (Alvin on electric, Brent on slide). They go at it again on the original song, “The Ticket,” driving home a strong blues message. On “Long Way Back to New Orleans, he’s joined by Sonny Landreth, who adds his signature slide guitar, helping to push the track towards his Crescent City hometown. Hart returns one more time on the Howlin’ Wolf classic, “Meet Me in the Bottom,” where both he and Brent channel the chugging sounds made famous by the Wolf’s iconic guitarist, Hubert Sumlin.

On an album filled with highlights, two additional songs are also worth mentioning. On “As the Years Go Passing By” (perhaps best-known from the great Albert King’s version), Johnson delivers a tour-de-force 13 minutes-plus of emotionally-charged singing and guitar playing that adds to the track’s intensity. And on “The Hucklebuck” (a 1949 number one R&B hit by saxman Paul Williams), Johnson shows he can swing and rock with the best of them on an instrumental that showcases his versatility and musical maturity as a guitar player. 

A guitar prodigy from the age of four, South Texas born Brent Johnson always knew where he wanted his playing to take him. Drinking in the very best of blues, jazz, rock, punk, country and world music, by the time his family moved to New Orleans in his teens, he was predestined towards a career in music.

Writing his own material, Brent formed several high school bands, all with a lean to the blues; and then joined the group Under the Gun, who built a considerable following on the local live circuit in Louisiana and beyond. As admiring of the style of The Clash, Albert King, Charlie Parker, Jimi Hendrix, Albert Collins or Black Flag and Thelonious Monk, Brent's passion for playing was immediate and intense for his audience.

By serendipity, New Orleans' legendary “Braille Blues Daddy” Bryan Lee heard Brent's playing and immediately recognized his virtuosity, drive and dedication to his craft and to the blues. At 22, Brent was seconded into Bryan Lee and the Blues Power Band, with whom he has recorded and toured nationally and internationally for the past ten years.

“Playing with Bryan has really helped me open my ears,” Brent says. “For example, Bryan always had keyboard players before I joined him, so I had to learn how to play like an organist, like a horn section - how to play rhythm like a group of instruments - instead of solely like a guitarist. I've learned how to swing, how to play be-bop and also how to take that aggression that I love and give it room to move - new colors to paint with.”

Through his long association with Bryan Lee, Brent has played many major jazz and blues festivals around the world and had the pleasure of playing with such outstanding blues artists as Buddy Guy, Lonnie Brooks, Eddie Shaw, Gatemouth Brown, David Maxwell, Bruce Katz, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Howlin' Wolf associate Hubert Sumlin.

In between touring with Lee, Brent went out on the road with John Perkins (drums) and Bill Blok (bass) playing Brent's original compositions, with himself on vocals. They garnered a great response and decided to go into the recording studio, with the inclusion of Wayne Lohr on keyboards.

As his debut album is released, Brent emphasizes his commitment to keep writing his own songs. “I want to bring something to the audience that sounds familiar, but that is our own in the end,” he states. Always demonstrating his creativity in his playing, he is excited and confident in putting his own songs before the public. “I believe there are no limits,” he declares. “I'm going to have fun with this for a long time!”

To stream the track, “Don’t Make a Sound,” from the new CD, click here: https://soundcloud.com/jill-kettles/brent-johnson-dont-make-a

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/brentjohnsonband or www.justin-time.com

BRENT JOHNSON TOUR ITINERARY

3/28-3/29            The Shed BBQ                                                                                   Ocean Springs, MS
4/8                         The Hideaway Café (Suncoast Blues Society)                       St. Petersburg, FL           

4/9                         The Little Bar                                                                                      Goodland, FL
4/10                       Englewood's on Dearborn                                                            Englewood, FL
4/11-4/12            B. B. King Blues Club                                                                       W. Palm Beach, FL
4/13                       Ace's                                                                                                     Bradenton, FL
4/14                       The Rockstar Lounge                                                                      Lake City, FL
4/16                       The Alternate Root Television Taping                                      Boston, MA
4/18                       Jonathan's Landing                                                                          Magnolia, DE
4/25                       Teddy's Juke Joint                                                                           Zachary, LA
4/26                       Murky Waters                                                                                   Gulfport, MS
5/02                       Ruby's Roadhouse                                                                           Mandeville, LA  

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