Interview with ungrateful person, as if guitarist Jeremiah Johnson. An interview by email in writing. After publishing the interview, he is a rude person who is incapable of writing even one thank you …

JazzBluesNews.com: – First, let’s start out with where you grew up, and what got you interested in music. How exactly did your adventure take off? When did you realize that this was a passion you could make a living out of?

Jeremiah Johnson: – I grew up in St. Louis MO, lived in Houston TX for ten years and eventually moved back to St. Louis to aggressively pursue music.  I had an early interest in guitar, taking lessons at four years old, but didn’t seriously invest the effort until my pre-teen years.

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I began to think I could pursue music as a career in high school but wasn’t really able to bring that dream to fruition until I was in my thirties.

JBN: – How has your sound evolved over time? What have you been doing to find and develop your own sound?

JJ: – As young man I started out with all the standard classic rock and even country legends as my main influences.  Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Bob Segar and The Silver Bullet Band.  After high school I began pursuing a music degree at a local community college where I studied jazz and subsequently found my way to BB King and blues music that involved a better understanding of chords, scales and music theory.

JBN: – What routine practices or exercises have you developed to maintain and improve your current musical proficiency, in terms of both rhythm and harmony?

JJ: – Even to this day I still take lessons and work on the holes in my playing.  I try to surround myself with the best musicians I can.  It is exciting to learn new ways to approach a rhythm and scales that say more with less.  I have no ambition to become the best guitarist on the planet, I just want to be the best player I can be and provide the canvas to paint the songs I have in my head.  Song writing is my true passion.

JBN: – Have you changed through the years? Any charges or overall evolution? And if so why?

JJ: – I began thinking I could be a rock star and quickly realized that chasing what’s popular wasn’t my ambition.  After discovering the old school blues musicians in St Louis, I realized I not only loved the platform, but I could play this style well into old age.  I will always have a southern rock and British blues rock foundation, but I have recently found a balance with blues style music that feels right for me. Swampy, blues, southern rock with a country flair.

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JBN: – In your opinion, what’s the balance in music between intellect and soul?

JJ: – If there is no soul in the song, nothing that speaks to the heart, the intellect means nothing.  I start with a feeling and begin to paint the picture in an intelligent way.

JBN: – There’s a two-way relationship between audience and artist; are you okay with delivering people the emotion they long for?

JJ: – When people feel something from your music, it’s truly a gift.  When the songs you create become a part of the lives of others there is magic in that.  I certainly would have never pursued a real music career if people didn’t like the music.  It is difficult to go to some of the places these songs are created from.  The emotions can stir up memories that you might prefer to forget.  But, expressing them is usually what the listener connects with.  I try to close my eyes and get lost in each song, bring me to the moment it was an idea or feeling.

JBN: – How can we get young people interested in blues when most of standard tunes are half a century old?

JJ: – The blues is the foundation of nearly every style of modern music that I enjoy.  It wasn’t very difficult to find, it’s harder to develop the skills and mindset to play.

JBN: – John Coltrane once said that music was his spirit. How do you perceive the spirit and the meaning of life?

JJ: – Without music, I am certain that I would have been lost without purpose.  It’s as much a part of me as the blood in my veins and the dreams in my head.

JBN: – If you could change one single thing in the musical world and that would become reality, what would that be?

JJ: – I would go back in time when the then President Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and stop it from happening.  This gave the Corporate Big shots the ability to own as many radio stations as they pleased, effectively controlling our airwaves.  Radio could be so amazing.

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JBN: – Whom do you find yourself listening to these days?

JJ: – I listen to Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Seger, JJ Cale, Warren Haynes, Dire Straits, Johnny Winter, Muddy Waters, Keb Mo, Freddy King and many more.

JBN: – Let’s take a trip with a time machine: where and why would you really want to go?

JJ: – I spend most of my time looking at “right now” and how I can move forward.  If I had to go back in time, I would probably choose to go back and see the first landing on the moon.  I would like to see and feel that in real time.  In all honestly, I am excited most with the possibilities of today and the endless opportunities tomorrow brings.  The cycle of life and the inevitable reality of death, the beginning of our book of life and the last sentence, on the last page.

Interview by Simon Sarg

Note: https://jazzblues.eu/2023/03/19/useu-jazz-blues-association-festivals/ You can express your consent and join our association, which will give you the opportunity to perform at our Jazz and Blues festivals, naturally receiving an appropriate royalty. We cover all expenses. The objectives of the interview are: How to introduce yourself, your activities, thoughts and intellect, and make new discoveries for our US/EU Jazz & Blues Association, which organizes festivals, concerts and meetings in Boston and various European countries, why not for you too!! You can read more about the association here. https://jazzblues.eu/2022/11/19/useujba/