| Fredericksburg Songwriters' Showcase | Louis "Cowboy" Johnson |
"I've
done a lot of livin', been down some rough roads, and I figure I have a
few more yet to go. But I'm also blessed beyond my wildest dreams. And
that's something I don't take for granted."
"Almost preternaturally attuned to
Newbury's songs, Johnson brings more depth and sincerity to them than
most singer-songwriters can bring to their own." John Conquest - 3rd
Coast Music review of "A Grain of Sand", a Mickey Newbury tribute by
Cowboy Johnson.
The name "Cowboy" has been tattooed on his
chest for 35 years now, from his days of rodeo bull riding in the Black
Hills of South Dakota, where he spent the 70's working the mines,
playing music and living hard. It was there that a disgruntled
neighbor, whose mailbox he had shot full of holes one drunken
afternoon, declared to the community, "We gotta do something about that
damn cowboy!” The name stuck, but has also misrepresented him musically
as he is not only a singer of country music. His voice also lends
itself naturally and beautifully to R&B. Look for his new CD of
originals, released under his given name, Louis Johnson, in late 2009
or early 2010.
Like many of the great singers, he grew up
singing gospel music in the church, "I grew up singing gospel music in
Northern California and listening to old country (it was New Country
then). I spent a lot of time listening to R&B and jazz as a kid and
world wide ethnic music that I picked up on a big old short wave radio.
You know the kind that gets Russia and The BBC and Spain etc. The radio
had lots of bandwidths so I would travel the world listening to music.
I think that's why I still do an eclectic mix of material in each set I
perform. If the song touches my heart then I'll sing it. On any given
night you'll hear me play anything from Mickey Newbury (check out my
"Grain of Sand" CD on MoonHouse Records) to Hank Williams Sr., Jimmy
Cliff to Hank Snow, Johnny Adams to Johnny Cash, Butch Hancock to John
Hiatt to Leonard Cohen, to Johnny Mercer to Lightnin' Hopkins. I do
some originals as well but I know thousands of great tunes, from The
Old Rugged Cross to Willin' and somebody needs to keep them alive and
being heard."
The first five songs on this page are demos
of some of his originals: "Someday", "Standing at the Crossroads", "Old
Friend", "Life on the Bayou", and "Outskirts of Hell". They'll be
included in the CD that will be out in late 2009 or early 2010.
The rest of the songs on this page are
written by Mickey Newbury and are included in his tribute CD to him, "A
Grain of Sand".
Page put together (with info & pics
from Bob Gramann ) by Ernest Ackermann.
Send rants/rave to above mentioned Ackermann
Last Time I changed anything on this page:
|
This site is hosted by Webliminal.com, a site on one
boundary of the Web. Visit the site,
and while you're at it take a look at some of Ernie's books about the
Web.
|
|
You can help support this site by buying books, CDs, and other items after clicking on any of these links. |
|
| Send a comment | Report a problem | |
