The Guitar Player's Resource
Ready to have a good time? How about a rockin' good time, rollin' down the highway in a tricked out van - in this case, Rock-N-Van, driven by guitarist and vocalist Van Johnson. He's loaded up his new CD, Ready Or Not, with homegrown, high-energy southern rock, country rock, roots, blues rock and surf rock full of grits. Ten tracks are featured, all originals, and Johnson follows a mantra of keep-it-simple, as the guitar tends to do all the takin' when the vocals ain't squawkin'. Check out "Ready Or Not", "There's A New Little Kitten In Town" and "Hold On" as some of the highlights on the album - which holds appeal to fans of the types of music that Johnson has cobbled together and/or used as influences.
Van first got the guitar bug after catching a video of the Stray Cats on MTV. He knew then that was the direction he wanted to take his music - with more guitar and less of the '80s electronic synth stuff that was going on at the time. It was about this time that Van met up with a young blues guitarist, Bernard Allison. Bernard had just left the Koko Taylor Band and was forming his own band. Van joined up and they did tunes by SRV, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Luther Allison, Albert King and some Bernard Allison originals. He got to meet both Stevie Ray Vaughan and Luther Allison. However, Bernard eventually went to Europe to play in his father's band, and Van stayed home to raise a family and play in local bands.
Johnson is currently playing in a trio called 3Play, and also doing some solo gigs as Rock-N-Van. The kids are raised, the guitars are dusted off, and he's playing, writing, and ready to roll wherever this thing takes him...
Van Johnson
United States
Web site: www.rock-n-van.com