Interview with Musical Prodigy
Justin Johnson
IF WALLS COULD TALK - ALBUM SET EXCERPTS FROM "SMOKE & MIRRORS" DOUBLE ALBUM
If Walls Could Talk
is the newest album by Justin Johnson, Recorded at Cash Cabin and Produced by
5x Grammy Award winner John Carter Cash and Chuck Turner.
Album Set includes CD, full-length DVD of behind-the-scenes video footage of studio sessions at Cash Cabin,
and 24-pg booklet of photos & the stories behind the songs.
EXCERPTS FROM "IF WALLS COULD TALK" ALBUM & DVD SET
Justin Johnson: An American Master
A true master’s musicianship holds true to influences, yet follows spirit and heart first, setting aside rules and forging new and inspired art. Maybelle Carter did this, as did Django Reinhardt, Hank Williams, and Jimmie Rodgers. But in our modern world, profound musical originality is rare, and fewer still hold strong to tradition, while moving on to create distinctive new music. If, in this marketed world of overstimulation and oversaturation, you are seeking an artist with distinguishing musicianship and artistry, I recommend you listen to: Justin Johnson.
When I first heard Justin, I was amazed. His technique is studied and focused, but still achieves previously unaccomplished inimitable ingenuity. He does this through a lately unstudied and somewhat forgotten method: honesty. Even though it may seem a familiar pathway, listen carefully…the music of Justin Johnson sets new destinations. You may hear the guitar style here of the old masters, the sounds of a wailing blues guitar, the tones of an ancient arch-top Gibson, the perfect sounds coming from a rare mandolin made in the early 1920’s,
ut there is more: and Justin will take you there.
I am blessed to have discovered Justin Johnson and ask that you join me, take in the music, take in the very soul of America… It is all here, and it comes from the only honest place it could: the heart.
-JOHN CARTER CASH, PRODUCER
Justin Johnson brings to life old favorites as well as new material, with a twist all his own.
Paying homage to the old, with the flair of the stars!!
His music is timeless, yet fresh, with tastes of blues, folk, country, and rock. There is absolutely something for everyone on If Walls Could Talk.
-CHUCK TURNER, PRODUCER
If Walls Could Talk
is the newest album by Justin Johnson, Recorded at Cash Cabin and Produced by
5x Grammy Award winner John Carter Cash and Chuck Turner.
Album Set includes CD, full-length DVD of behind-the-scenes video footage of studio sessions at Cash Cabin,
and 24-pg booklet of photos & the stories behind the songs.
EXCERPTS FROM "IF WALLS COULD TALK" ALBUM & DVD SET
Justin Johnson: An American Master
A true master’s musicianship holds true to influences, yet follows spirit and heart first, setting aside rules and forging new and inspired art. Maybelle Carter did this, as did Django Reinhardt, Hank Williams, and Jimmie Rodgers. But in our modern world, profound musical originality is rare, and fewer still hold strong to tradition, while moving on to create distinctive new music. If, in this marketed world of overstimulation and oversaturation, you are seeking an artist with distinguishing musicianship and artistry, I recommend you listen to: Justin Johnson.
When I first heard Justin, I was amazed. His technique is studied and focused, but still achieves previously unaccomplished inimitable ingenuity. He does this through a lately unstudied and somewhat forgotten method: honesty. Even though it may seem a familiar pathway, listen carefully…the music of Justin Johnson sets new destinations. You may hear the guitar style here of the old masters, the sounds of a wailing blues guitar, the tones of an ancient arch-top Gibson, the perfect sounds coming from a rare mandolin made in the early 1920’s,
ut there is more: and Justin will take you there.
I am blessed to have discovered Justin Johnson and ask that you join me, take in the music, take in the very soul of America… It is all here, and it comes from the only honest place it could: the heart.
-JOHN CARTER CASH, PRODUCER
Justin Johnson brings to life old favorites as well as new material, with a twist all his own.
Paying homage to the old, with the flair of the stars!!
His music is timeless, yet fresh, with tastes of blues, folk, country, and rock. There is absolutely something for everyone on If Walls Could Talk.
-CHUCK TURNER, PRODUCER
For years now I have been debating and contemplating the meaning of art.
More so what it means to me.
Of course with my third eye, I follow the trends and see what is happening in the different
Areas of the arts and at this point with literally over a thousand professional artists and musicians whom I pray I can call friends I have come to the ultimate conclusion that the real art, the best art, the true art, comes from the heart. It’s honest. A gift within itself honesty, can change and rearrange people's lives. Hard to swallow tough to deal with but the ultimate elixir for those in the know. But the people want hard proof so let me drop some names.
Robert Deniro, Tim Robbins, Rob Lowe and his brother Chad, Matthew Broderick, Sam Rockwell, Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, and the list go’s on and on and no I don’t do selfies and my instincts told me at the time that a photo prooving my short time spent with these artists was not a moment for a photo op. But my point is that these creatures were brought into my life for what I can only summise as an example of what the the big boys and girls in the industry all share in common. Honesty. They were real and spoke truthfully answered my questions and talked to me on an earthly level. So with the above mentioned well known popular culture stars and along with the niche market art superstars I see that the key is listening to the voice.
The great voice from the universe, the advice columnist who sits in between the heavens and hell
And sends us sometimes undiscernible messages that have to be heeded carefully.
This is a story about a star - a star that the universe has given us as a gift.
He’s young he’s beautiful like most of them are. Them being the messengers.
Delivering the news that change lives.
TNYO: Justin Johnson hello!
Man I am so glad I found you. Your music speaks to me on so many levels.
My imagination runs wild with visions of magic and the occult when I see you and listen to you.
Is that your real name?
Justin Johnson:
I’m glad you are digging the music! I love to hear about the images that people conjure up while listening to my music. The nature of instrumental music is such that it allows the listener to take the sounds and meaning to a very personal place, as opposed to having lyrics restrict your musical journey.
…and yes, Justin Johnson is my real name. It’s funny, because, until I was born, my name was going to be Robert Johnson. My parents weren’t naming me after the legendary Blues musician, it was just a coincidence. Once I was born, they changed their minds and decided to go with Justin… Im not sure why. It’s ironic though, being that Robert Johnson would end up being one of my strongest musical influences later in life!
TNYO: Where are you from?
Justin Johnson:
I’m originally from Southern California in a town called Upland. I was born on Route 66, and I guess that meant that I was destined to travel. I’ve lived all over the country growing up, and touring with my music has taken me everywhere from Tasmania to Paris. I currently live in Nashville, TN with my fiancé Nikki.
TNYO: Your education - please tell me how you learned how to play all those instruments and especially the guitar?
Justin Johnson:
I’ve been attracted to music for as long as I can remember. When I was growing up, if there was an instrument around the house, I would be banging on it. From an old beat up, one-string Stella guitar (my first guitar), to the piano, trumpet, and euphonium… I would write songs and force out melodies as best I could. When I picked up a 6-string for the first time, I immediately knew that the guitar was the instrument that would become my voice. I played it every minute I could. I woke up early to play it, ate with it, played it into the night, and then fell asleep with it. I learned songs by taping them on the radio.. remember tape!?.. and then trying to figure them out by ear. I saved any money I could scrounge to buy Tablature books and, later, DVDs taught by the players I admired. I ended up studying Jazz guitar in school, but the best education I ever got was on stage. At one point, I was performing regularly in 6 bands at the same time, from Bluegrass and Big Band, to Reggae and Psychedelic Rock groups. I like the feeling of learning to swim by jumping into the deep end. It’s always the fastest way to find out what you’ve got.
TNYO: Are you a witch or a warlock, do you have magical powers? I know you do but just love to hear your response’
Justin Johnson:
I think we all have magical powers, but controlling that power requires learning how to work with it. It all comes down to how closely you observe the universe, and how much value you assign to the energy that organizes the universe. I firmly believe that humans are capable of much more than what is scientifically or medically proven at this point in time. Much of my music and life is guided, not by my own personal choices of reasoning, but by close observation of the organized “flow” of our surroundings. The meaningful synchronicities in life always seem to point us in the right artistic and career directions. Many of the songs on my last album, “If Walls Could Talk,” came from the act of fleshing out a musical “glimpse” that came from something like the image of a full moon rising over the snow, or a lone bird surveying the fog-shrouded hill as the sun was rising. If I put enough of my heart into observing and valuing those moments, they usually give me deep insight and inspiration in return.
More so what it means to me.
Of course with my third eye, I follow the trends and see what is happening in the different
Areas of the arts and at this point with literally over a thousand professional artists and musicians whom I pray I can call friends I have come to the ultimate conclusion that the real art, the best art, the true art, comes from the heart. It’s honest. A gift within itself honesty, can change and rearrange people's lives. Hard to swallow tough to deal with but the ultimate elixir for those in the know. But the people want hard proof so let me drop some names.
Robert Deniro, Tim Robbins, Rob Lowe and his brother Chad, Matthew Broderick, Sam Rockwell, Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, and the list go’s on and on and no I don’t do selfies and my instincts told me at the time that a photo prooving my short time spent with these artists was not a moment for a photo op. But my point is that these creatures were brought into my life for what I can only summise as an example of what the the big boys and girls in the industry all share in common. Honesty. They were real and spoke truthfully answered my questions and talked to me on an earthly level. So with the above mentioned well known popular culture stars and along with the niche market art superstars I see that the key is listening to the voice.
The great voice from the universe, the advice columnist who sits in between the heavens and hell
And sends us sometimes undiscernible messages that have to be heeded carefully.
This is a story about a star - a star that the universe has given us as a gift.
He’s young he’s beautiful like most of them are. Them being the messengers.
Delivering the news that change lives.
TNYO: Justin Johnson hello!
Man I am so glad I found you. Your music speaks to me on so many levels.
My imagination runs wild with visions of magic and the occult when I see you and listen to you.
Is that your real name?
Justin Johnson:
I’m glad you are digging the music! I love to hear about the images that people conjure up while listening to my music. The nature of instrumental music is such that it allows the listener to take the sounds and meaning to a very personal place, as opposed to having lyrics restrict your musical journey.
…and yes, Justin Johnson is my real name. It’s funny, because, until I was born, my name was going to be Robert Johnson. My parents weren’t naming me after the legendary Blues musician, it was just a coincidence. Once I was born, they changed their minds and decided to go with Justin… Im not sure why. It’s ironic though, being that Robert Johnson would end up being one of my strongest musical influences later in life!
TNYO: Where are you from?
Justin Johnson:
I’m originally from Southern California in a town called Upland. I was born on Route 66, and I guess that meant that I was destined to travel. I’ve lived all over the country growing up, and touring with my music has taken me everywhere from Tasmania to Paris. I currently live in Nashville, TN with my fiancé Nikki.
TNYO: Your education - please tell me how you learned how to play all those instruments and especially the guitar?
Justin Johnson:
I’ve been attracted to music for as long as I can remember. When I was growing up, if there was an instrument around the house, I would be banging on it. From an old beat up, one-string Stella guitar (my first guitar), to the piano, trumpet, and euphonium… I would write songs and force out melodies as best I could. When I picked up a 6-string for the first time, I immediately knew that the guitar was the instrument that would become my voice. I played it every minute I could. I woke up early to play it, ate with it, played it into the night, and then fell asleep with it. I learned songs by taping them on the radio.. remember tape!?.. and then trying to figure them out by ear. I saved any money I could scrounge to buy Tablature books and, later, DVDs taught by the players I admired. I ended up studying Jazz guitar in school, but the best education I ever got was on stage. At one point, I was performing regularly in 6 bands at the same time, from Bluegrass and Big Band, to Reggae and Psychedelic Rock groups. I like the feeling of learning to swim by jumping into the deep end. It’s always the fastest way to find out what you’ve got.
TNYO: Are you a witch or a warlock, do you have magical powers? I know you do but just love to hear your response’
Justin Johnson:
I think we all have magical powers, but controlling that power requires learning how to work with it. It all comes down to how closely you observe the universe, and how much value you assign to the energy that organizes the universe. I firmly believe that humans are capable of much more than what is scientifically or medically proven at this point in time. Much of my music and life is guided, not by my own personal choices of reasoning, but by close observation of the organized “flow” of our surroundings. The meaningful synchronicities in life always seem to point us in the right artistic and career directions. Many of the songs on my last album, “If Walls Could Talk,” came from the act of fleshing out a musical “glimpse” that came from something like the image of a full moon rising over the snow, or a lone bird surveying the fog-shrouded hill as the sun was rising. If I put enough of my heart into observing and valuing those moments, they usually give me deep insight and inspiration in return.
TNYO: Man, the control you have, the mastery, of all the styles of the music you play is it years of hard work or is natural talent?
Justin Johnson:
It is definitely both. I’ve always loved music, and felt as though I had a genuine inclination for it. But I’ve also trained and practiced tirelessly in order to be able to express myself to the fullest extent. If you took the most gifted musical genius imaginable, someone who has perfect pitch, total recall, and a gifted creative soul.. that person would still have to refine the physical act of getting sound out of an inanimate object. The physical side of playing an instrument is no different than training for a sport, it requires repetition, muscle training, coordination, and agility. Those qualities always benefit from long hours of determined, focused training.
TNYO: Tell us about your new album If Wall’s Could Talk?
Tell us about some other albums you have made and very satisfied with.
Justin Johnson:
The most pure and simple way I can put it is that, after seven months of writing and arranging, “If Walls Could Talk” is the most genuine expression of music that I could make after moving here to Nashville. It’s been influence by my past, my travels, the musical cultures I’ve been baptized into, and the amazing musical history and culture of Nashville. This album was created with genuine honesty in mind, and that’s exactly what the team and I put into it. It was produced by 5x Grammy winning producer John Carter Cash (son of Johnny Cash and June Carter), and engineered and co-produced by Chuck Turner. It’s hard for me to put the sound into words, but luckily, you can check it out yourself at www.JustinJohnsonLive.com!
TNYO: Do you paint as well?
Justin Johnson:
I love visual art, and find that much of what I feel about music holds true to visual art as well, whether it’s painting, photography, cinematography, etc. My fiancé Nikki is an amazing visual artist, and she taught me what I know about the fundamentals of balance, color, texture, and composition. She has a business here in Nashville called Music City Mosaics. I found from working with here, creating glass mosaic portraits, that her mosaics are much like paintings, but each “brush stroke” must be painstakingly shaped out of glass. This makes you concentrate very closely on precisely what shapes and colors will tell the story of the image best, and in the most simple pieces. Nikki and I often write songs, and flesh out arrangements, using the same principles of “less is more.”
TNYO: Are you Happy?
Justin Johnson:
I try very hard to make every day the best day of my life. After all, it’s the only day that I’m alive! I am a very driven person, and I always look at the horizon with a strong feeling of yearning for what’s next, but I constantly try to ground myself with an appreciation for the simplest, and most important things in life. I love my family, I get to spend every day with Nikki, the woman I love, and I get to share music and art with the world for a living. In other words.. hell yeah, I’m happy!
TNYO: How does your instructional teaching system work?
Justin Johnson:
From touring the world, teaching people of all skill levels, and closely observing the way people learn music, I have developed my own personal approach and philosophy about what encourages or discourages someone from learning music. Everyone is different, and everyone comes at music with a slightly different goal. Attached to those goals are unique challenges, but those can be overcome by encouraging the right perspective, and giving the student the reward they’re looking for. For example, I want to teach “music,” as opposed to just dry technique. “Music” is what most people what to learn, but in order to do so, you have to develop muscle memory, a knowledge of practical theory (even if it’s your own language of music theory), and some form of ear training. My instructional methods always teach these techniques using a song. So, in learning that song, you will have learned key techniques that will then carry forward into every subsequent song you approach. Essentially, you will learn music theory, proper technique, use of inflections, and ear training, without even realizing it. To the student, they are just learning a song …but that song holds the building blocks of every future song they will approach.
TNYO: have you been witness to great horror?
Justin Johnson:
With as much as I’ve travelled, following music around the globe, it’s unavoidable that I would find myself in the shadow, or wake, of great horror. Last year, after performing in Paris, and having some of my most memorable experiences in that great city, it was attacked by terrorists a week later on the same block that Nikki and I were staying. As we tour the the American West, we are constantly reminded of the genocide of the Native Americans as we pass places like the Badlands and Wounded Knee. It seems that everywhere we travel, if our eyes and hearts are open to it, we become more and more acquainted with the scars of the past, and the reality that the present can be just as dangerous and horrifying.
TNYO; How has this affected your work?
Justin Johnson:
The scars that these terrible events leave on the world, and the people that inhabit it, will always be harmful unless they are channeled into something that leads to a positive result. We are all the same species, and yet, humans can so easily segregate one another out of jealousies, insecurities, and bigotries. Music (and art in general) is one of the few things that has the ability to dissolve the walls that we put up between one another. That’s another reason that I love instrumental music so much… without lyrics, every person on Earth is able to feel the same song in their own personal way, without any borders to their ability to comprehend the message. This universal language can unite people in a way that words always seem to fall short of.
TNYO: Who are some of your favorite Blues artists
Justin Johnson:
Personally, if a musician is “feeling’ it,” I love it, no matter who it is! But when it comes to the Blues artists I listen to most, it always goes back to those early legends who paved the roads that we stroll down today. Lighting Hopkins, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Blind Willies McTell, Blind Willie Johnson, Charlie Patton, R.L. Burnside, John Lee Hooker… and those are just the ones I’ve been listening to today. Without those foundations, we wouldn’t have the music we hear today.
TNYO: Can you suggest a song that influenced you early on for our readers to listen to?
Justin Johnson:
The first song that ever turned me on to Blues music was “Last Night” by Lightning Hopkins. I heard it a few weeks after I got my first 6-string. It was like a nuclear bomb going off in the middle of all the cookie-cutter music around me on the radio. It shook me to the bone, and made me rethink what I knew about music in general, not just Blues music.
Justin Johnson:
It is definitely both. I’ve always loved music, and felt as though I had a genuine inclination for it. But I’ve also trained and practiced tirelessly in order to be able to express myself to the fullest extent. If you took the most gifted musical genius imaginable, someone who has perfect pitch, total recall, and a gifted creative soul.. that person would still have to refine the physical act of getting sound out of an inanimate object. The physical side of playing an instrument is no different than training for a sport, it requires repetition, muscle training, coordination, and agility. Those qualities always benefit from long hours of determined, focused training.
TNYO: Tell us about your new album If Wall’s Could Talk?
Tell us about some other albums you have made and very satisfied with.
Justin Johnson:
The most pure and simple way I can put it is that, after seven months of writing and arranging, “If Walls Could Talk” is the most genuine expression of music that I could make after moving here to Nashville. It’s been influence by my past, my travels, the musical cultures I’ve been baptized into, and the amazing musical history and culture of Nashville. This album was created with genuine honesty in mind, and that’s exactly what the team and I put into it. It was produced by 5x Grammy winning producer John Carter Cash (son of Johnny Cash and June Carter), and engineered and co-produced by Chuck Turner. It’s hard for me to put the sound into words, but luckily, you can check it out yourself at www.JustinJohnsonLive.com!
TNYO: Do you paint as well?
Justin Johnson:
I love visual art, and find that much of what I feel about music holds true to visual art as well, whether it’s painting, photography, cinematography, etc. My fiancé Nikki is an amazing visual artist, and she taught me what I know about the fundamentals of balance, color, texture, and composition. She has a business here in Nashville called Music City Mosaics. I found from working with here, creating glass mosaic portraits, that her mosaics are much like paintings, but each “brush stroke” must be painstakingly shaped out of glass. This makes you concentrate very closely on precisely what shapes and colors will tell the story of the image best, and in the most simple pieces. Nikki and I often write songs, and flesh out arrangements, using the same principles of “less is more.”
TNYO: Are you Happy?
Justin Johnson:
I try very hard to make every day the best day of my life. After all, it’s the only day that I’m alive! I am a very driven person, and I always look at the horizon with a strong feeling of yearning for what’s next, but I constantly try to ground myself with an appreciation for the simplest, and most important things in life. I love my family, I get to spend every day with Nikki, the woman I love, and I get to share music and art with the world for a living. In other words.. hell yeah, I’m happy!
TNYO: How does your instructional teaching system work?
Justin Johnson:
From touring the world, teaching people of all skill levels, and closely observing the way people learn music, I have developed my own personal approach and philosophy about what encourages or discourages someone from learning music. Everyone is different, and everyone comes at music with a slightly different goal. Attached to those goals are unique challenges, but those can be overcome by encouraging the right perspective, and giving the student the reward they’re looking for. For example, I want to teach “music,” as opposed to just dry technique. “Music” is what most people what to learn, but in order to do so, you have to develop muscle memory, a knowledge of practical theory (even if it’s your own language of music theory), and some form of ear training. My instructional methods always teach these techniques using a song. So, in learning that song, you will have learned key techniques that will then carry forward into every subsequent song you approach. Essentially, you will learn music theory, proper technique, use of inflections, and ear training, without even realizing it. To the student, they are just learning a song …but that song holds the building blocks of every future song they will approach.
TNYO: have you been witness to great horror?
Justin Johnson:
With as much as I’ve travelled, following music around the globe, it’s unavoidable that I would find myself in the shadow, or wake, of great horror. Last year, after performing in Paris, and having some of my most memorable experiences in that great city, it was attacked by terrorists a week later on the same block that Nikki and I were staying. As we tour the the American West, we are constantly reminded of the genocide of the Native Americans as we pass places like the Badlands and Wounded Knee. It seems that everywhere we travel, if our eyes and hearts are open to it, we become more and more acquainted with the scars of the past, and the reality that the present can be just as dangerous and horrifying.
TNYO; How has this affected your work?
Justin Johnson:
The scars that these terrible events leave on the world, and the people that inhabit it, will always be harmful unless they are channeled into something that leads to a positive result. We are all the same species, and yet, humans can so easily segregate one another out of jealousies, insecurities, and bigotries. Music (and art in general) is one of the few things that has the ability to dissolve the walls that we put up between one another. That’s another reason that I love instrumental music so much… without lyrics, every person on Earth is able to feel the same song in their own personal way, without any borders to their ability to comprehend the message. This universal language can unite people in a way that words always seem to fall short of.
TNYO: Who are some of your favorite Blues artists
Justin Johnson:
Personally, if a musician is “feeling’ it,” I love it, no matter who it is! But when it comes to the Blues artists I listen to most, it always goes back to those early legends who paved the roads that we stroll down today. Lighting Hopkins, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Blind Willies McTell, Blind Willie Johnson, Charlie Patton, R.L. Burnside, John Lee Hooker… and those are just the ones I’ve been listening to today. Without those foundations, we wouldn’t have the music we hear today.
TNYO: Can you suggest a song that influenced you early on for our readers to listen to?
Justin Johnson:
The first song that ever turned me on to Blues music was “Last Night” by Lightning Hopkins. I heard it a few weeks after I got my first 6-string. It was like a nuclear bomb going off in the middle of all the cookie-cutter music around me on the radio. It shook me to the bone, and made me rethink what I knew about music in general, not just Blues music.
Roots Music School
Roots Music According to Justin Johnson

Smoke & Mirrors is Justin Johnson's debut double-album release, Recorded in part at the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis TN, "the Birthplace of Rock & Roll," and in part through a series of field recordings at a Sharecroppers' Shack in the Mississippi Delta and at the Crossroads of Blues legend, "the Birthplace of the Blues."
Produced by Grammy Award-winning producer, Matt Ross-Spang
Mastered by Grammy Award-winning engineer, Brad Blackwood
"A MUST FOR ANY BLUES LOVER"
-Vinny Marini, Music on the Couch
Produced by Grammy Award-winning producer, Matt Ross-Spang
Mastered by Grammy Award-winning engineer, Brad Blackwood
"A MUST FOR ANY BLUES LOVER"
-Vinny Marini, Music on the Couch
https://www.facebook.com/JustinJohnsonLive/videos/1150791804997488/?pnref=story
http://www.justinjohnsonlive.com/home.html
http://www.rootsmusicschool.com/home.html
https://www.youtube.com/c/justinjohnsonwizard
http://www.rootsmusicschool.com/video-library.html
http://www.justinjohnsonlive.com/home.html
http://www.rootsmusicschool.com/home.html
https://www.youtube.com/c/justinjohnsonwizard
http://www.rootsmusicschool.com/video-library.html