Eric Johnson (born August 17, 1954) is a guitarist and recording artist from Austin, Texas. Best known for his success in the instrumental rock format, Johnson regularly incorporates jazz, fusion, New Age, and country and western elements into his recordings.
Widely recognized for his guitar skills, Johnson's stylistic diversity and technical proficiency have drawn praise from Carlos Santana, Allan Holdsworth, Larry Carlton, Steve Morse, Billy Gibbons, Johnny Winter, Jeff Baxter, Prince, B.B. King, Joe Satriani and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan. His critically-acclaimed, platinum selling 1990 recording Ah Via Musicom produced the single "Cliffs of Dover", for which Johnson won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance [2].
Johnson's talent developed at an early age. Born into a musically inclined family, he and his three sisters studied piano, his brother started his own band in his teens; his father (an Austin physician) was a singing enthusiast. At age 11, Johnson took up the guitar and progressed rapidly through the music of his influences Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Wes Montgomery, and Django Reinhardt, among others. His first professional experience came as a member of the psychedelic rock band Mariani at just 15 years of age. In 1968, Johnson recorded a demo tape with the group which saw extremely limited release; years later the recording would become a prized collector's item.
After graduating from Holy Cross High School, Johnson briefly attended the University of Texas at Austin and traveled with his family to Africa. He eventually returned to Austin, and in 1974 joined the local fusion group Electromagnets. The group toured and recorded regionally, but failed to attract attention from major record labels and disbanded in 1977. However, the strength of Johnson's playing attracted a small cult following to the group's early recordings, and decades later their two albums were given wide release on compact disc.
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