Nearly 45 years ago, Alien warned audiences that “in space no one can hear you scream.” Eric Johanson may dispute this claim, because his guitar was howling at the intimate music venue known as SPACE in the northern Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois. Supporting his brilliant 2023 release, The Deep and the Dirty, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart, Johanson played an electrifying set that demonstrated why he belongs in the upper stratosphere of the best blues artists in music today.
Hailing from Louisiana with five top ten Billboard albums to his name, Johanson is no paint-by-numbers blues artist, though. By his own admission, Johanson doesn’t follow “a standard form” but rather searches for the “raw self-expression” of the blues to inform the many different styles of music he plays, from hard rock, Americana, New Orleans funk, and country.
In doing so, Johanson is able to expertly weave his various influences into a singular sound. Instead of an artist who is attempting to straddle multiple musical lanes, mastering none, Johanson has done the opposite – beautifully unifying the styles by focusing on the emotional and human center of each genre. The result is a musical honesty that is often lost by those focusing on rules rather than emotion and feel.
Couple this skill of Johanson with the warm and resonant tones of his voice and guitar, his solos (which serve the song, not his ego) and his superb writing, and you have the complete package. Of all those attributes, however, it is Johanson’s writing that really gets me: smart, clever and evocative. It’s an artistry that can be easily lost in music today, but one for which Johanson has a deft touch:
- “What’s the use in tricks now if they stay up your sleeve?” (“Don’t Hold Back” from The Deep and the Dirty)
- “Down in the alley, up against the wall/Too late for walking and too proud to crawl/Yeah some needs just can’t be satisfied/You raise your hands up to the empty sky/You cry/Have mercy, have mercy on my soul.” (“Have Mercy” from Below Sea Level)
- “Woke to see the sunlight going down as I got up/Nothing left inside my wallet nothing left inside my cup/All the nights I’ll never get back all the days that I regret/I just keep making memories to forget.” (“Memories to Forget” from Blues in My Blood)
- “It’s four o’clock in the morning trying to hold on to the night.” (“4 in the Morning” from Burn It Down)
As for his show at SPACE, Johanson charged out of the gates with the rollicking “Nowhere to Go,” followed by the stomping groove of “Never Tomorrow” and the Hendrix-tinged “Hammer on the Stone” – all three of which are from his 2020 release Below Sea Level. He then slowed it down with “She is the Song,” the beautiful final track from his latest release The Deep and the Dirty, before returning to the roadhouse with the rowdy “Undertow” from the same album.
The rest of the evening featured Johanson’s masterful slide work (“Borrowed Time,” “Familiar Sound,” and “Just Like New”); a Chuck Berry tune (“Oh Louisiana”); some frenzied (“Galaxy Girl”) and fiery (“The Deep and the Dirty”) rockers; a little tenderness (“Love is Rebellion” and “Changes the Universe”); and a bit of New Orleans voodoo with Dr. John’s “I Walk on Guilded Splinters.”
Johanson closed his set with “Don’t Hold Back” before returning for an encore of the title track (“Burn It Down”) off his debut album. Those two songs epitomized the evening. Johanson is sensational.
All images: © Derek Smith / High Voltage Concert Photography for American Blues Scene
Set List:
Nowhere to Go
Never Tomorrow
Hammer on the Stone
She is the Song
Undertow
Borrowed Time
Oh Louisiana (Chuck Berry)
Just Like New
Familiar Sound
Galaxy Girl
Open Hearted Woman
Love is Rebellion
The Deep and the Dirty
Changes the Universe
I Walk on Guilded Splinters (Dr. John)
Don’t Hold Back
Encore
Burn It Down
Johanson only has a few dates remaining in New Orleans before embarking on a European tour. However, for more information on his music and future tour dates, check out his website.
Related: ABS Interview with Eric Johanson
