In 1990, Eric Johnson released his Grammy Award winning album, “Ah Via Musicom”! The meaning, or translation of the name of this album, is the best description of Eric Johnson’s career as one of the premier guitarists of all time. “Ah Via Musicom” means ” a celebration by way of the communication of music, as a festival of life” and this past Friday evening at The Kent Stage, Eric Johnson left no doubt for this term. Almost every genre of music is included in his playing, and he strives for perfection while doing so. In between most of the 20 plus songs he played, he was “tuning” his guitar. He told the story of recording an album and being told that “you can only tune a guitar so much” and he responded by tuning it even more.
Out on his “Straight Up – Tones of Blue Tour 2024”, Johnson played two plus hours of songs spanning his 38-year solo career. While he did engage with the crowd, he let his guitar do the talking as his “rhythm section” laid down the groove. The crowd, a large majority of whom were wearing vintage Eric Johnson tour shirts, were cheering after each song and exploded when he played his Grammy Award winning song, “Cliff Of Dover”.
A must-see show, Eric Johnson continues to prove why he is known for his music and “shredding” plus on a side note he is also a great vocalist.
