Lightning on the Earth - Kevin Johnson

The newly released music CD entitled, “Lightning on the Earth” is a unique blend of country blues and contemporary folk songs. Clinton resident, Kevin Johnson has self produced a collection of original tunes and lyrics that sometime seem to border on the mystical. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Johnson has spent the last 20 years researching ancient culture, philosophy, natural health, sourdough bread baking and meditation. Recently, he’s taken to the art of writing songs about the advantages of living the simple life.

“Lightning on the Earth – Esoteric Folk Songs” was recorded and produced by Joel Whitten at the Metal Shed Studio in Baton Rouge. (It’s available at www.bluesandbread.newlibertyvillage.com.) The project began in early May after Johnson arranged a set of new material he’d written over the winter of 2011. Most of the songs are biographical in that they depict emotional challenges and hardships that have shaped and led he and his wife, Donna, to choose a lifestyle of voluntary simplicity.

“I wanted to write songs that poetically express issues that matter to me, rather than just telling stories.” he said. “A lot of the lyrics are ambiguous because they actually contain a couple of different meanings. The words can be interpreted in a number of ways.”

Several talented musicians assisted in the project, including Adrian Percy, “Fiddlin’ Doc” Chaney, Heather Feierabend and Alan Morton, all members of the local Americana Folk group, the Fugitive Poets. Also featured are Donna Johnson on baritone ukulele, Joel Whitten (bass & keyboard), his son Sam on drums, Steven Smith (lead guitar and harmonica), and Betsy Braud, an extremely gifted jazz flutist.
The title track, “Lightning on the Earth” is really a song about man loving woman with purity and integrity. Though it’s not a love song per se, the song is sort of a testimony to the spiritual love between a committed couple. The cover art was painted by Kevin’s daughter and depicts lightning striking a tree, the re-energizing connection between heaven and earth – male and female. On his blues and bread blog, Johnson writes, “I knew that song needed a female vocalist and that Heather had the perfect voice for it. She’s got that sweet country quality that makes the song credible.”

While in the process of working on the recording, Johnson said he kept thinking about the past, about all the incredible musicians who developed their skills watching and listening to other musicians, before radio and records. “What I really wished,” he said, “was that I could have heard my Grandfather, William Zurich Coglizer, play the fiddle. Since he died when I was very young, I never knew him. But he had an old German violin that was made sometime around 1870. After grandpa died the fiddle sat in the closet at my aunt’s house for 43 years, wrapped up in woolen cloth and duct tape. No one on that side of my family was interested in it, so one day I called my aunt and asked her if I could have it. Surprisingly, she packaged it up and mailed it to me last summer. I was absolutely stunned to see it for the first time and hold it in my hands. I wanted that fiddle featured on my new CD, so I asked “Doc” Chaney to play it on several of the tunes. When Doc played on the song “Hear Her Drawing Near” I just knew it was going to be one of the sweetest songs I’d ever recorded because of that fiddle.”

“To me, familiar songs bring back good feelings of a simpler time, but new songs give us hope for a brighter future.” Whatever economic conditions are unfolding in these challenging times, it will be those who come together in a sense of community and spirit of helpfulness that are going to get through it. This CD is filled with hope and vision for the dawn of a new and brighter world.

Barry Hebert – Storytelling & Songwriting

Date: March 15, 2010
Name: Barry Hebert
E-mail: fourcajunbears@eatel.net
Genre: original folk/country
Instrument: Acoustic guitar, bass, Cajun accordion

When a songwriter can tell a good story and create vivid pictures in your mind with his or her lyrics, then you know there is something remarkable going on. Such is the case with Baton Rouge singer-songwriter, Barry Hebert. I first met Barry a couple of months ago at one of the weekly Songwriter Spotlight nights which is hosted by Dorothy Leblanc at Brew-Ha-Ha on Thursday nights.

Right away I was drawn to his singing and smooth rhythm guitar playing. Most notably was a tune he sang called, Three Miles Ahead and 50 Years Behind, about a family going to grandma’s farm on vacation. The song is from a kids’ point of view, not much to do, no video games, no high tech entertainment, just simple country things that the dad remembers enjoying years ago. Barry said he got the idea for the song from seeing the phrase Three Miles Ahead and 50 Years Behind along with a milk truck pictured on a tee shirt.

The youngest of four children in a family that loved music, Barry Hebert grew up listening to singer-songwriters at an early age. He is especially fond of artists like James Taylor, Hank Williams Jr., the Eagles as well as the old country Texas artists. Today he still appreciates classic songs such as Fire & Rain and Tequila Sunrise.

Barry enjoys a long, impressive history of being involved with music professionally; he actually took an interest in junior high when his older sister, Nanette, started taking guitar lessons and showing him a few chords. His sister eventually went on to become a music teacher while Barry continued to play guitar, sing in church and jam with friends throughout high school and later during college at USL.

At first he wasn’t particularly interested in singing, preferring to stand aside and play, but sometime around 1982 he became involved with a country group called the Basin Brothers Band, performing in and around Lafayette, Breaux Bridge and Arnaudville. The group enjoyed some real success, eventually playing nicer gigs such as dancehalls in Houston, Bay City and other places around Texas. By this time Barry was accomplished, not only on acoustic guitar and electric bass guitar, but playing Cajun & Zydeco accordions as well.

Eventually, the Basin Brothers made some personnel changes and the band evolved into a Cajun band. This happened at a time when Cajun music was just beginning to spread beyond Louisiana’s borders. Around the mid to late 80’s, a man named Frank Randol, the owner of Randol’s Restaurant in Lafayette, was busy setting up a musical tour with notables such as Doug Kershaw, Eddie Raven and Jimmy C. Newman. These artist, together with the Basin Brothers Band (including Barry Hebert) spent time traveling around the United States playing places like the Greek Theater in Hollywood, Atlantic City, New York, Canada and so on. The group ultimately released a CD entitled "Let’s Get Cajun", in 1989 which was actually nominated for a Grammy, losing to Doc Watson. The record was, as you might expect, picked up and distributed by Flying Fish Records.

While the late 1980’s was an exciting and busy time for Barry, enjoying the exciting activity of traveling and playing music, the 1990’s was a time for changing direction. In 1990, Barry got married, quit the band, settled down and went to work in Baton Rouge as an environmental consultant. He actually stopped playing music for about 5 years, until one night he and his wife Tiffany were out to dinner and he heard Mitch Landry and the Cajun Ramblers (which later became Gumbeaux Rouge). Barry felt inspired once again to make music. In time he was invited to join the band. This opportunity enabled him to get back to his roots, playing Cajun and swamp pop music. Currently he is still active in two bands, Louisiana Breeze and Gumbeaux Rouge.

Barry started writing country songs while with the Basin Brothers, yet it was only about 4 or 5 years ago when the creative spark came back to him stronger than ever. Lately, his concentration is on being a storyteller-songsmith. Barry, along with his friend Steve Judice, often work together bouncing ideas, lyrics and melodies off one another. “I’m always looking for ideas,” he says, “phrases that people say. When thoughts come I’ll write them down in a folder. Then before bed I go through my notes and see if I can get a verse.”

He told me that lyrics are his primary focus and sometimes a melody will come to mind, but what he really attempts to do is tell stories. The few songs I heard that night at Brew-Ha-Ha really impressed me. I was captivated by the content of his original songs; his stage presence and delivery was delightfully reverent and inspiring.

Another one of his best songs is called Gene’s Pool. It is whimsical song, a play on genetics and the stereotypical redneck activity of beer drinking, skoal dipping and cousin’s kissing around the swimming pool. The bridge of the song says:
“All good things have to come to an end,
But we’ll do it all over come next weekend
We’re gonna get crazy and gonna get loud,
and do some things that will make ole’ Darwin proud.”

Though Barry Hebert is still actively involved with a couple of cover bands, he also performs occasional solo performances at restaurants, coffee shops and so on. This is a guy that loves to play music and his enthusiasm is contagious. Recently, Chris Maxwell invited Barry to open for Bill Kirchen at the Red Dragon Listening Room. Whenever you get a chance to see this guy perform I know you will be uplifted by his music.

Steve Judice – Outlaw Country Songwriter

Date: January 2, 2010
Name: Steve C. Judice
E-mail: sjudice@kcwlaw.com
Website: www.facebook.com/stevejudice
Genre: original red dirt Americana, outlaw country
Instrument: Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, keyboard
CD Titles: Stormy Goodbyes & Laughing Eyes

Steve Judice is one of those amazing songwriters’ who can take simple ideas and weave them together through melody and lyric and create imaginative poetry. The first time I heard him play was at an open mic at LaFonda’s in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I sat there captivated by his tragicomic themes, such as Viagravation (grandpa’s insistent fondness for Viagra) to the perfect divorce anthem “if you’re going to leave me, why don’t you leave me alone.” These songs may sound a lot like outlaw country rock and roll, but are really a lot more sophisticated and thought provoking than most of the pop new country tunes of today.

Steve’s early musical influences came from listening to seasoned songwriters like Willie Nelson, John Prine and Mike Williams, artists who write simple tunes and tell great stories. Billy Joe Shaver was probably his biggest influence. His first attempt to write a song came around the mid 80’s in the form of a contest with a friend after they heard George Jones’, “He Stopped Loving Her Today” on the car radio. Steve said, “I can write a song like that” and before long he penned “Big Hat, No Cattle, Cadillac Driving Man.” From then on he realized he had a knack for crafting a song.

Some 25 years later, Steve Judice finally cut his first CD (Stormy Goodbyes & Laughing Eyes - 2009) at Gordon Graham’s Dog House Studio in St. Francisville. With some talented local musicians playing on the record, guys like Pete Verbois, Joe Ropollo, Ken Rust, Phil Gay, and others, it is one of the best collections of originals I’ve heard in a long time. Though not necessarily biographical, the songs depict heartache, struggles in relationships and plain old anguish, such as in the opening song, Outta Luck Again, which begins with the line, “There’s a brand new church where the snake farm used to be…” This song came to Steve in about 15 minutes while he was driving down Highway 190. An old snake farm, which had been a landmark for many years was gone and in its place was raised a new church. Seeing this, Steve came up with a fictional, humorous story about a guy who keeps coming up empty handed at every turn. The new record is getting some well received airplay in Europe as well as on the independent internet radio station radiofreetexas.org

It is this intriguing expression of ordinary themes that really make Steve Judice a great songwriter because he has the innate ability to observe and pay attention to common things that happen in life and poetically convey them in stories that any listener can relate to. One of my favorite songs, “By Heart” poignantly describes the rarity of being truly loved by someone who really understands you on a personal level. Ironically, it was inspired by a 6 year old boy, who upon changing schools, told his mother that he liked his former teachers better because they “know me by heart.”

Steve was first introduced to acoustic guitar by his brother-in–law, a man named Richard Lewis. In 1974, Richard was in the Navy during the Vietnam War and would often leave his guitar, encouraging Steve to play it while he was away. Years later Steve took up playing the piano when his daughters were taking lessons. He also plays harmonica, mandolin and fiddle. But he’s most comfortable singing his own songs and strumming the guitar. Lately, his main concern is writing and he spends a lot of time thinking about ideas and keeping a notebook handy all the time.
He was involved with a few Baton Rouge bar bands over the years, such as Bleeker Street, a 1990’s Classic Rock band, Gunsmoke, and Slightly Off. Recently, however, Steve Judice has decided to focus on writing and playing his own songs almost exclusively, playing open mics, benefits, private parties and coffeehouses.

When I asked Steve what he would do if he could start over as a young musician he said passionately “I’d start writing songs sooner.” It’s clear that he has a gift for writing and playing because whenever I get the chance to see and hear him do a set, he’s always relaxed and confident. His voice and stage presence are energetic and lively. Steve is also one of the favorite performers at Birdman Coffee & Books, in St. Francisville at the Monday night listening room. Check out his webpage at www.facebook.com/stevejudice and for a real treat, listen to his music. Steve's CD "Stormy Goodbyes & Laughing Eyes" is available through www.CDBaby.com

Spencer Bohren at the Red Dragon Listening Room

When Spencer Bohren took the stage last Saturday night at the Red Dragon Listening Room in Baton Rouge, I was thrilled to get the chance to see him after so many years. My daughter, Lorena was born near New Orleans in 1981 and Spencer’s wife, Marilyn was the attending midwife at her birth. Marilyn was expecting their second child at the time.

In my conversations with Marilyn between my wife’s contractions, I learned about Spencer Bohren and his roots blues. He was making a living, supporting his family, playing clubs in New Orleans, doing a lot of musical experimentation, hosting a weekly Monday night jam session at Tipitina's and playing weekends at the Old Absinthe Bar on Bourbon Street. Still, it wasn’t until a few years later that I actually got a chance to hear him perform.

I remember the first time I saw Spencer singing and playing guitar at Chelsea’s near LSU. I actually sat six feet in front of him, drinking beer and watching his fingers in amazement. He was making exotic chord progressions, doing solo embellishments and finger picking melodies like I’d never heard before. At the time, a B7 chord was awesome and mysterious to me, but this guy was playing harmonic partial chords all over the neck. Man, I wanted to be able to play like that. His style and energy was so vibrant and alive and I’ll never forget how thrilled I was to watch that kind of guitar playing. He was such an inspiration to me at that time.

A year or two later, I had an opportunity to sit and jam with Spencer at a mutual friend’s house. I played him the only blues song I knew at the time, a subdued version of a tune called “How Long” by Christian folk guitarist, John Michael Talbot. I don’t know what Spencer thought of that song considering he was into the real country blues classics, styles by artists such as Mississippi John Hurt, Tommy Johnson, Charley Patton and so on, but he played along with me with absolute politeness, enthusiasm and respect. Just that short time with him really gave me the encouragement I needed to work harder at improving my playing skills.

Thirty years ago Spencer was just beginning to make his mark in the music world of delta and country blues, traveling around the United States, hauling an Airstream trailer with his red and white ’55 Chevy Bel Air, along with his wife Marilyn and their young children. During that time he actually gave me an autographed copy of his first solo LP album entitled “Born in a Biscayne”, which I played over and over until it was completely worn out.

Spencer’s music is born right out of that folk-blues revival of the late 1960’s. In fact, early on in his career, he actually met one of my favorite guitar heroes, the eccentric ragtime genius, Reverend Gary Davis. Over the years, Spencer has established himself as a torch carrier of the old traditional roots music, mixing in some creative, thoughtful originals as well. One of my favorites is a tuned he wrote called, “Cry of the Blues,” on his 1996 CD, Dirt Roads

Spencer probably doesn’t know how much I appreciated that first album he gave me when I was in my early 20’s. But it opened up my ears to a world of music that I love dearly to this day. There is so much unrefined emotion in this old style of music. So when he played blues classics like “Canned Heat,” and “Ain’t Nobody’s Dirty Business” at the Red Dragon this weekend, it was like teleporting back to that time once again. Throughout the evening, Spencer sang and told stories while moving effortlessly from lap steel guitar to banjo to his old Gibson and then back again, painting a melodic panorama of poetry, image and sound. My friend, John Baute, elbowed me more than once between sips of wine, as if to say, “Wow, this guy is great.”

Patrick Sylvest, from Thibodeaux, generally plays in an old time string band trio called the Mosspickers. Patrick opened the performance with a set of inspired and imaginative originals which gave voice to environmental concerns such as coastal restoration and conservation awareness to Louisiana’s dwindling black bear population. Patrick is a talented musician with a pleasant voice and a great sense of sensitivity and rhythm.

The Red Dragon Listening Room is a very special place, thanks to its’ sponsor, Chris Maxwell. What Chris puts into this place is nothing short of a labor of love. It is the ideal setting for experiencing intimate, live music. Spencer said that he’d been all over the United States and that places like the Red Dragon, which cater to live acoustic music, are very rare. Through the Red Dragon Listening Room, Chris Maxwell allows professional songwriters the opportunity to be heard in an atmosphere that is truly unique.

I always have a feeling of being at home at the Red Dragon Listening Room, a comfortable relaxed feeling of being with a room full of friends. The people who love this place come because they know it will be a pleasurable experience of appreciating the excellence of talented acoustic musicians. It is a venue unlike any I’ve known before and I truly appreciate the fact that we have it here in Baton Rouge. If you’ve never been there, please check it out and support the cause of great quality acoustic music in Baton Rouge.

Spencer Bohren’s web page is at: www.SpencerBohren.com
Patrick Sylvest’s web page is at: www.myspace.com/mosspickers

Steven Smith – Acoustic Lead Guitarist

Date: January 2010
Name: Steven Smith (Scratch)
Website: www.scratchandsnifflive.com
Genre: acoustic pop rock
Instrument: Lead Guitar / Harmonica


Steven Smith (a.k.a. Scratch) is one of those rare accomplished guitarists that enjoy playing just for the sake of the music itself. His rhythmic accompaniments generate a bouncy groove that really allows one to hear the richness of acoustic guitar playing. The first time I heard Steve play was while he and Peter Duffield (3 Blind Mice) were performing a gig at Calente’s Restaurant in Central, just northeast of Baton Rouge. Their music was tight and polished, performing as an acoustic duo known as Scratch & Sniff (www.scratchandsnifflive.com), and playing a variety of 60’s & 70’s folk rock cover tunes.

Steve’s guitar playing was inspired by the early country fingerstyle guitarists, Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed, who both utilized a pulsating bottom end in their playing. Steve’s guitar style, however, exhibits a lot more melodic flow rather than an alternating bass rhythm. And his ability to intuitively blend harmonically with just about anyone, accentuating major and minor based melodies between lines, seems to express a hint of ragtime syncopation. But it is apparently obvious that his foundation is deeply rooted in folk rock. One can easily discern surf and country blues techniques from American bands like the Beach Boys, Grand Funk Railroad, The Grateful Dead and the Eagles in his style. I really enjoy listening to him play and I’ve met several people who agree that “Scratch really has a nice touch on the guitar.”

Steve’s grandfather became his first musical influence. Amos Callegari was from Cottonport, Louisiana. And he played fiddle for a Cajun band for many years. One day he decided to donate his fiddle to a Catholic School. After that, the old man kept up his musical interests playing the harmonica, sometimes playing simple tunes for his grandchildren.

This early introduction must have really impressed Steve because he can play blues cross harp just as well as any old bluesman from Mississippi. A couple of years ago Steve was hired to record a unique blues harmonica lick that was actually used in a jingle for the Team Toyota commercial, which has aired thousands of times on television since.

By the time Steven Smith was in high school his desire to play music led him to getting one formal lesson on the snare drum. After a month of pounding out cadences his mother had enough. She took the drum back to Montgomery Wards and got him a guitar and amp instead. One day, Steve heard a neighbor named Randy Borne’ playing guitar; Randy had begun taking guitar lessons around this time and was sitting on his porch playing “House of the Rising Sun”. After hearing that, Steve started hanging out with Randy, absorbing as much as he could and then eventually showing him some things on the guitar as well.

At the age of 16 Steve got his first acoustic guitar and it was during these early years that he actually began developing his own unique melodic playing style. His emphasis was always on being an accompanist rather than a solo guitarist. He says the best gig he ever played was in November of 2005 at the Beaumont Civic Center, where he and 3 Blind Mice were privileged to open for Edgar and Johnny Winter at a benefit for victims of Hurricane Rita.

Over the last 40 years, Steve has developed a solid understanding of musical scales and has formed his own method of practicing them as a kind of warm up fingering exercise. His guitar picking technique employs holding a flat-pick while clawing the treble strings with his middle and ring fingers. Preferring nylon strings, the effect he produces is very punchy, yet mellow at the same time.

One night I invited Steve to come check out the open mic at LaFonda’s. When he showed up, he just leisurely introduced himself to a couple of musicians and before you know it he was sitting down and effortlessly playing along like it was nothing. He has a natural ability to blend in with any kind of musical style or genre. Later in the evening, he played lead guitar for Steve Judice, performing a few original Red Dirt Americana tunes such as “Outta Luck Again,” and “Nobody Talks”. It sounded incredible. Donna and I wished we would have had a film recorder going.

The first time I performed live music with Steven Smith was during the Clinton Community Art Market last November (2009). We set up a small P.A. in front of the Landmark Bank and played out toward the street nonstop for three hours - everything from the Beatles to John Prine to the Doors – and had a blast. I was absolutely amazed at how he could just follow along on a song he’d never heard before and just come up with some of the most incredible musical embellishments right on the spot. There were a lot of people who came up to me afterward to say how much they enjoyed the music.

Be sure to check out Steve Smith’s calendar and new music webpage at www.scratchandsnifflive.com and try to make it to one of his performances or just listen to some of his music online.