G UITARSTUDIO
Eric Johnson’s NASA Tone
The man who needs no introduction to the
world of guitar and outstanding tone: Eric
Johnson. The first time I heard Eric was back
in 1985 when he did a guest appearance
on Steve Morse’s solo record, Stand Up. He
contributed vocals on the song,
“Distant Star,” in addition to his
signature guitar tone. The following year, Guitar Player magazine
showcased Eric’s song “Cliffs
of Dover” on their promo vinyl
record that came with every issue.
Spinning that song for the first
time on the record player had a
very powerful effect on me and
prompted me to see him at the
China Club in New York the very
same year. He put on an amazing show and I felt like I had
witnessed a great guitar player
before he really exploded onto
the scene. Four years later, “Cliffs
of Dover” earned Eric a Grammy
for Best Rock Instrumental, topping fellow nominees the Allman
Brothers Band, Danny Gatton,
Rush and Yes. Even before this
song gave him the recognition he
deserved, he had been a session
player in the seventies for such
artists as Cat Stevens, Carole King
and Christopher Cross. In fact,
Eric had played on the Grammy
sweeping Christopher Cross self-titled album in 1980. Since then,
Eric has released several solo
CDs, and his most recent, Bloom
was released in 2005.
his home state. Being a born and breed
New Yorker, I could relate to his need to
express himself over such a devastating
tragedy hitting so close to home. Eric told
me that he had always been a fan of astron-
because it was an uplifting tribute instead
of a dirge.
Setup and Gear for Bloom
Eric’s typical setup is a BK Butler Tube
Driver or an AC Booster through
a Marshall JMP Super Lead and
a Dunlop Dallas Arbiter Fuzz
Face, or an old Ibanez Tube
Screamer through a Marshall
JTM45. “I have a couple of
different Marshalls with a little
different circuitry. Some are
more Hendrix rhythm, big-Fender-sounding and not as
grainy with bigger, thicker
rhythm tones and overdrive.
Then I have some that are more
Super Lead JMP that have a lot
of gain within the amp. I’ll crank
that up and get a lot of distortion from the amp. I also have a
Twin Reverb that has Eminence
speakers and when you crank
it up it has an interesting type
of lead tone.” For the song
“Columbia,” Eric used a Strat
with the Butler Tube Driver
through a JMP Marshall. Eric
will sometimes use two amps
at a time with a switcher to get
a stereo effect, but when over-dubbing he likes to concentrate
on one amp at a time. Eric says
that the BK Butler works really
well with the Marshall.
The History of “Columbia”
I had the pleasure of talking with
Eric about his CD Bloom and the
song, “Columbia.” For me, that
song in particular felt like the CD’s signature song due to its “Cliffs of Dover” vibe
as well as its positive, upbeat progression.
Eric has a keen sense of songwriting and
composition, and that has always placed
him head and shoulders above other guitarists, hence his Grammy Award which is
rare for a rock instrumentalist.
omy and NASA, so when the tragedy hit he
immediately felt compelled to sit down and
write a song. Written as a commemoration
and tribute to the lives that were lost, Eric
said, “I wanted to make it more of a positive message, a salute, a celebration rather
than just concentrating on a few moments
of tragedy, but instead the bigger picture of
these brave people’s lives.” After the song
was released, he mentioned that crew-mem-ber Kalpana Chawla’s husband contacted
him and told him that he, along with other
astronauts at NASA, really enjoyed the song
It was nice to talk to an artist
who really writes from the heart
and has true meaning behind
his compositions. Check out
Eric’s genius on Bloom from
Favored Nations. Also, expect a
new album from Eric later in the year.
When I caught up with Eric and asked him
about the origin of the song he said he
wrote it in memory of the space shuttle
Columbia which disintegrated over Texas,
Brian Tarquin
Emmy Award winning guitarist Brian Tarquin scored a
Top 20 hit in the nineties with “ The Best of Acid Jazz,
vol. 2 ” on Instinct Records and enjoyed several top 10
hits on the R&R charts. Founder of the rock/electronica
band, Asphalt Jungle and has scored TV music for
such shows as CSI, Smallville, MTV, Alias, 24, All My
Children and many others.
bohemianproductions.net
jungleroom@optonline.net
myspace.com/bohemianproductionsmusic
