“My Artist Of The Decade – Will Johnson”

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NO DEPRESSION 12/22/09:

The noughties were the decade when the music community liberated itself. Suddenly any ‘musician’ with half a voice could record an album at home, create a website and sell it on-line. The downside was that there were suddenly thousands more ‘recording artists’ competing for our attention and some of the finest songwriters of the decade really didn’t get the attention they deserved. One of those is Will Johnson.

Let me tell you a little about Will. He’s a workaholic; this year alone, he has toured with his own bands, Centro- matic and South San Gabriel, performed a few solo gigs and played guitar and provided backing vocals for Drive By Trucker Patterson Hood’s solo venture ( including a fine set at No Depression’s first festival at Marymoor Park in July). More recently, he could be found on the road playing drums for indie ‘supergroup’, the Monsters Of Folk and has just released a duo album with Jason Molina ( of Magnolia Electric Co ). Did I mention that he had exhibition of his baseball art in Dallas, Texas back in August ? [ READ MORE ]

Jason Molina and Will Johnson

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SC195-300pixJason Molina and Will Johnson Collaborate on New LP, Plot European Tour

Call this the Phantoms of Folk. Call this two lone wolves running together for one dark blissout of a night. Two of the finest indie-folk songwriters of the last decade come together under the Texas sky to quietly lay to tape 14 crushing, haunting tunes, leaving space enough in each to match their surroundings. In this collaboration between Jason Molina and Will Johnson, each seem to hold the other’s talents to fire and elevate both performance and creativity. In the friendly sharing of ideas, Molina and Johnson become two poet’s poets in a workshop, aimed to craft a singular, searing elegy.

Will Johnson describes this alignment of two red stars: “For ten days we wrote, co-wrote, workshopped, complimented, scrutinized, drank, invited friends to come play music, smoked, made lots of notes and drawings, drank a little more and shot the BB gun off the back porch when we just needed some time and space. In the throes of all this, our record was made in the late February sun.”

The album is also abound with contributions from other fine musicians, such as Magnolia Electric Co.’s Michael Kapinus and Texas songwriter Sarah Jaffe, whose plaintive vocals “All Gone, All Gone,” accompanied by the sound of a crying saw, will stir in your gut for days. Other accomplished contributors include Howard Draper, Bryan VanDivier and Scott Danbom.

Hear an mp3 of Molina and Johnson’s “Twenty Cycles to the Ground” HERE.

Molina and Johnson will be available on Secretly Canadian November 3 in the US, and November 2 in the UK.

Will Johnson with Monsters of Folk and other stuff.

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We were about to write an update about all the stuff Will is doing over the next few months but Austin Powell from the Austin Chronicle wrote one for us!

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Off the Record
BY AUSTIN POWELL

Some Kind of Monster
Will Johnson is the Swiss Army knife of indie rock. During rare downtime between his bands Centro-matic and South San Gabriel, the prolific local songwriter is taking a backseat to the Monsters of Folk – Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, M. Ward, and Jim James of My Morning Jacket – on a national and European tour, following the release of the quartet’s eponymous debut Tuesday. “I play [drums] as much as I’m allowed on recordings, but it’s been a little while since I’ve played live,” says Johnson, who last gigged behind the kit with Jandek in July 2007. His return coincides with the November release of Jason Molina & Will Johnson (Secretly Canadian), his debut collaboration with the Magnolia Electric Co. frontman, which Johnson describes as “a pretty subdued listen.” Here’s the real bombshell, though. Alongside Jim James and Anders Parker, Johnson is also taking part in Jay Farrar’s version of Mermaid Avenue, recording original music based on unpublished Woody Guthrie lyrics at the behest of his daughter, Nora Guthrie. While no details have been confirmed as far as a release date or label, the album, which was recorded in New York in March, is currently in the mixing stage. “Jay sent me a priority mail package full of the lyrics, and I opened it at 4:30 in the afternoon,” Johnson recalls. “Within 17 minutes, I had already documented this one called ‘Chorine My Sheba Queen’ to the recording machine. That speaks far more about the song than anything I did. The lyrics struck me in a way that the music sounded automatic. It made such sense to my soul and my spirit. It’s got an empty and regretful tone but in a very beautiful way. I just latched onto it.”

Counting the Scars

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We are honored to share footage of Rockestra performing “Counting the Scars” at their Good Records performance in Dallas on Aug. 30th.  Rockestra is a Rock n Roll Youth Orchestra that contains vocals, guitars, bass, drums, keys, synths, strings, horns, etc ages 12-17. Here’s a hearty salute to them and their lovely version of this song.