Steve Johnson

Steve Johnson

Steve Johnson is a blues guitarist. He starts playing guitar in 1963 after his uncle, Mickey Johnson, plays an electric guitar for him. He performs in rock and blues bands in California before moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1982.

Career

In Ann Arbor, Johnson meets Albert Collins, Willie Dixon, Luther Allison, Duke Robillard, Johnny Winter and many other blues musicians from the Chicago and Detroit scenes. He moves to New York City in 1983 and forms The Tanks, a blues power trio. With that group, he records three albums, all of them independently released in the United States.

He also plays with Paul Butterfield, Johnny Copeland, Paul Schaeffer, Albert Collins, Little Jimmy King, Jaco Pastorius, Little Mike, Popa Chubby, Big Ed Sullivan, Jon Paris, Bill Perry and Michael Hill, among other New York blues musicians.

Later trio work

Since 1995, Johnson has led his own trio with Cliff McComas on drums and vocals and Mark Pavlica on bass and vocals. The trio records seven albums in total: five for Virgin and two for Dixiefrog.