Sunset Johnson
Original songs
Vocals
Acoustic and electric guitars
Piano
Keyboards
Whatever...
Influences
So many! But my all time favourites are...
Robert Johnson, Tori Amos, J. B. Lenoir, Mississippi John Hurt, Lily Allen, John Renbourn, The Move, Nick Drake, Leo Kottke, Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin, Richie Havens, Bo Carter, Rev. Gary Davis, Vanessa Carlton, Kelly Jo Phelps, Isaac Guillory, Andrew Gold, Rev. Robert Wilkins, Steve Miller, John Prine, Tony McPhee, K T Tunstall, Blind Boy Fuller, Razorlight, Martin Carthy, Michael Chapman, Buddy Holly, Don Partridge, Bert Jansch, Bukka White, Larry Johnson, Loudon Wainwright III, John James, Duster Bennett, Gerry Rafferty, Tom McNevin, Jo Ann Kelly, Blind Blake, Mike Cooper, Patto, Stefan Grossman, Juliet Turner, Leadbelly, Damien Rice, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Robin Williamson, Memphis Minnie, Elvis Presley - oh, and of course...
Fraser Anderson (2008) "Rag and Bones" from my friend Fraser's new album is pretty much my favourite song of the moment. This guy has such talent and it's only a matter of time before he's huge.
Steve Goodman (1972)
What a player, what a voice, what a funny guy, what a songwriter, what a huge loss!
John Martyn (1973)
Not usually my sort of thing, but how sublime was he on this early Old Grey Whistle Test...
Gordon Giltrap - Dodo's Dream (2007)
Guitarists start here. This guy is a living legend - and a really nice man too. Just watch this remarkable live video as he builds a fabulous wall of sound as you watch. And every time he plays this track, it's different again...
Tommy Emmanuel - Classical Gas (2002)
Just in case Steve and Gordon weren't challenging enough, try playing along with this guy. I think he made a pact with the devil...
Sounds Like
Steve Goodman, Robert Johnson, J. B. Lenoir, Nick Drake, Mississippi John Hurt, John Renbourn, Leo Kottke, Lyle Lovett, Richie Havens, David Gray, Bo Carter, Rev. Gary Davis, Kelly Jo Phelps, Jack Johnson, Isaac Guillory, Andrew Gold, Rev. Robert Wilkins, Steve Miller, John Prine, Blind Boy Fuller, Martin Carthy, Michael Chapman, Buddy Holly, Don Partridge, Bert Jansch, Bukka White, Larry Johnson, Loudon Wainwright III, John James, Duster Bennett, Gerry Rafferty, Tom McNevin, Jo Ann Kelly, Blind Blake, Mike Cooper, Stefan Grossman, Leadbelly, Damien Rice.
I love the sound of acoustic guitar...
It sends shivers down my spine.
Sometimes I write three songs a week.
More often I write three a year.
Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.
I love performing them to a crowd that listens.
I'm really proud of my musical friends' achievements.
I don't see myself doing American Idol.
I love getting feedback about the music.
That's probably about it really. Sunset
So Beautiful by Sunset Johnson
Big Ocean by Sunset Johnson
Nick Drake's Fly performed in Nick's village church by Denise Offringa and Sunset Johnson - with our warm thanks to James Newman Gray for the video!
Mama by Sunset Johnson, performed at the Nick Drake Gathering 2008
You're very welcome to show any of these videos on your own page.
You can see other videos too by visiting my YouTube page: click HERE. Decide which video you want, copy the text from the "Embed" box (to the right of the video), and paste it to your own page using Edit Profile. Easy peasy...
Don't suppose you'll be travelling down to Port Isaac for this year's Giltrap concert. They've been able to put on a festival for that weekend. If you can make it, I'll be performing a set on the afternoon of Saturday 23 May. If not, I'm sure Sam will record it like he did when you played three years ago and you can hear it from there.
Your music is just great. Hope we meet again. Would be cool if we could do some music together. By the way, I put up an instrumental on my page called: "Trough the desert". Check it out and tell me what you think. Emil
Paul: Thanks for introducing me to these mostly spare, hauntingly poignant lyrics and melodies accompanied by honey-sweet acoustic sounds plucked or strummed so lovingly, judiciously...masterfully. “Wait,” “Never Mind,” & “Found You” are instant favorites, as is the anthem-like, acoustic piano-dominated, “Day of the Sun.” I caught myself making comparisons to Dan Fogelberg’s earlier work (specifically “Wysteria”) a couple of times, but your sound is your own and it’s one that I look forward to hearing more of! With gratitude for the addition of my name to your list of devotees – Rich
Hehe, i'm fine brother, was just a little tired out that's all. Nice to see you at tia, absolutely loved the song you did on the old joanna by the way. take it easy now! jiggs
Thanks for the comment on the blog. I left a reply on it then realised you might not see it!! I loved your playing all weekend and the mud makeover I got too haha.
Yes,it was great jammin with ya,(picked up some very useful bits and pieces of you!)wish we could have done more of that...blissfull weekend...great people...Oh,it really was just brilliant! You played great,by the way...
Hello Sunset, glad you're not stuck in the mud any longer and got back safely too :)
Thanks very much for your beautiful music once again, I've added some of my photos to the Nick Drake Annual Gathering site but also on flickr for the full size image downloads, there's about 550 photos on there from this year so far and from only 2 camera's lol!
Hi, just wanted to say how much I enjoyed chatting with you, Jill and Alice at the weekend. I hope you all had a good journey back home (without getting into trouble with any more muddy fields!). As I said before, I thought 'Mama' was a very beautiful and moving song. I had a gret time in TIA again this year, can't wait for the next one! Nya xx
Thanks. I love your playing, singing and overall style. Never mind... Brilliant. I love what you say about writing songs too. I seem to love everything today. And this is me sober. Just imagine...
Thanks for that, Paul. But, honestly, sometimes I feel like I'm standing still. Life is an uphill struggle everyday! Really hope things are going well for you. L
