Human Flower Project
Najaf, IRAQ
Austin, Texas USA
Chichen Itza, MEXICO
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Bloom—Guitar Gardening with Eric
Strings are six green fuses that drive the flowers from Eric Johnson’s guitar. Nine years in the making, his Bloom is a prolific beauty.
Bloom/Eric Johnson
Photo: via Amazon
Talk about “Eric” with the guitarzans of Austin, Texas, and they’re most likely twanging about local wonder Eric Johnson. We’d never heard of him till we moved to town in ‘99, but catching Johnson’s “SRV” (tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan) on the radio one afternoon, we phoned the DJ. Who was that???
What makes EJ ripe for HFP is his most recent musical offering, a collection called “Bloom.” There are lilies, plumerias, and sunflowers sprinkled around the liner notes, but beyond decoration there’s Johnson’s talent – a force of nature. No matter how many styles he sprouts, Johnson keeps true to his fixation—tone.
We find his playing pure, aromatic – even intergalactic. Johnson’s critics call him a “gearhead” – who labors so fervently for technique he loses his soul. We don’t hear it that way. For us, his playing is as bracing as eucalyptus. Not just “I Want to Take You Higher” but “I Can and I WILL!”