Great Guitars: Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson, long hailed as one of the world’s preeminent electric guitarists, celebrates his acoustic side with EJ, his 12th album as a leader. Emphasizing Johnson’s formidable skills as a singer/songwriter, his first completely unplugged album is also his most immediate and intimate. Johnson self-produced the album and performed nine of its 13 tracks unaccompanied in his Austin, Texas-based Saucer Sound studio. With EJ, listeners are given a rare and long-awaited opportunity to hear the guitarist in an all-acoustic setting — a first for Johnson. On the original compositions “Wonder,” “Fatherly Downs,” and “All Things You Are,” Johnson frames his voice with his prized 1980 Martin D-45, a gift from his late father. He plays the steel-string on his superlative instrumentals “Once Upon a Time in Texas,” “All Things You Are,” and “Song for Irene.” And he conjures the beautiful, pensive tones of “Serinidad,” another original instrumental, on a Ramirez nylon-string guitar. A spirited steel-string arrangement of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” rounds out the solo guitar tracks. In essence, EJ brings listeners as close as possible to hearing Johnson perform in his own living room, as he continues his lifelong quest to produce music that entertains, inspires, and heals. The GRAMMY Museum welcomes Eric Johnson to the Clive Davis Theater for an intimate conversation on his latest album and remarkable career, moderated by Scott Goldman, Vice President of the GRAMMY Foundation and MusiCares. The conversation will be followed by a performance.