I'm known as a pretty schizo song-writer. Everybody I ever listened to got to me somehow, and while some are more obvious in selected songs than others, most of my material comes straight from the vivid imagination of someone who grew up in a suburb of a suburb. Influential, none the less, are: Mike Petkau; Billy Joel; Greg Hobbs; Chris Isaak; The Kinks; Lightnin' Hopkins; Tom Waits; Bob Dylan; Carolyn Mark; The Undesirables; Marvin Gaye; Ember Swift; Washboard Hank; Mississippi John Hurt; The Beatles; Stan Rogers; Muddy Waters; Frank Sinatra; Bon Jovi; B.B. King; Paul Simon; Fred Eaglesmith; Gordon Lightfoot; Leonard Cohen; John Lee Hooker; David Wiffen; Paul McCartney; Roderigo; Dave Brubeck; The Beach Boys; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Pink Floyd; Stevie Wonder; Weird Al Yankovic; The Rolling Stones
Sounds Like
I've been told I sound like: Greg Brown; J.J. Cale; Haydn; the Kinks; Leo Kottke; Tom Waits; Townes van Zandt; Frank Zappa
BIO:
Canadian singer-songwriter Johnny Eden was born in Barrhaven, effectively a suburb of Nepean, which is a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario. He didn't realize the satisfaction of music until he picked up his father's acoustic guitar at the age of 14, and began a self-taught discovery of what the instrument could do. He played in various bands and released his debut CD in 2003, Midnight Fool, before settling into solo performance, culminating in the five song release, EP, in 2004.
In January of 2005, Johnny moved to the Yukon, and there began a professional music career, playing in local cafes and bars. By May of that year, Johnny was touring across Canada on the Greyhound, maintaining a dense touring schedule, including a number of festivals, and earning the nickname "The Last Troubadour" from Poor Pelly, organizer and namesake of Pelly-Pell-Ooza. By August, he had documented his live show with his third release, West of Eden: Live at Rasputin's Folk Cafe. Since that fateful winter of '05, Johnny has lived the life of troubadours of old, sharing news, story and many songs of love with fans across Canada. He has played twelve festivals and hundreds of shows, including folk club performances, house concerts, and cafe/bar gigs, and still contently resides below the poverty line in Canada, though he one day hopes to crawl above it.
PERFORMANCE:
Johnny Eden likes emotion, songs that make people feel. His goal in songwriting and performing is to induce empathy. He writes theatre, songs with a narrative flow, vignettes like or larger than life, backed by a musical style that suits them. He seeks to unite words, music, and characterization so that the whole becomes larger than its parts.
Johnny has a high intensity delivery and confident stage presence, a dynamic voice that ranges from Waits-like growls to Gaye-like falsetto soars, and a rhythmically steady right hand that is equally capable of finger or flat-picking, keeping shoulders swaying and toes tapping.
With his "turtle wins the race" career philosophy, Johnny has slowly but surely been gathering respect and appreciation from fans, peers, and organizers across the country. In his own words, "I would rather crawl to be a legend than rush to be a star."
Johnny! We'd be honoured if you'd take a moment to stop by our space & have a listen to the clips posted from our upcoming debut CD! Many Thanks! ~Sweetgrass Warren & Amanda
Hey Johnny! How's life? Are you playing music full time? Hope you are having a very exciting life. Do you think you'll be back in the north one day? Cheers and live for today. Alain.
Hey Johnny, Kaeljia here... just stopped by to let my Hubby listen to your tunes, He's pretty excited to play with you in May, he is the drummer for Naked Volley Ball the bar band that hosts the jam.
I do believe I've seen you perform at the Eldorado Pub in Vancouver eons ago.. am I wrong? love ya K have a good weekend.
Mr. Eden, how have you been? Last I heard you were going to Hawaii or something to that effect. That was after we went to London and you called everyone in the bar a douchebag or something like that...
I'm working in Peterborough, so if you're ever passing through, perhaps you can play in town. I'll try and set-up a show if you're interested. Let me know.
First day back at the dreaded Day Job. What a letdown.
Thanks for letting me be part of the Parliament Funkadelic Showcase on the OCFF weekend. I enjoyed every minute. All of you were terrific.
"On Saturday Night" sounds great. I posted my Saturday performance on my page (in three parts). A bit more eccentric, but you and Lisa sound fantastic.
Keep in touch, and let me know if you play Kingston.
Hey, Johnny. Thanks for getting all our asses in gear and making the showcase happen. 'Twas a good time - best time I've had with six other people in a hotel room.
Hey Johnny, Damn I am pissed off that I missed the group sing along ala
"On Saturday Night".It sounds great and does sum up the fun we had at the OCFF. Thanks again man,
Keep in touch,
Trevor
Hey Johnny, it was a real pleasure to meet you. Hope the maritimes treated you right on your tour through the east. Wish I could have caught more of your show, but hopefully our paths will cross again someday.
Brad
Johnny...El Mikolo is a great fackin song dude! I downloaded it and will play it on my co-op radio show. We just put some new songs up on the space, go check em out...see you on the beaten trail...joeyonly
