You’ll now notice if you’ve read my last two articles that G3 introduced me to the beautiful world of guitar virtuosos. And amongst all of them Eric Johnson is the most tasteful that’s for sure!

The guy is on another level when it comes to playing, and he’s got a wonderful blend of rock, folk, jazz, blues and new age amongst his catalogue.

His catalogue is considerably more sparse, due to his desire for perfection but it’s been great to see him be more prolific in this last decade.

Johnson has inspired my playing really directly and there’s times where I willingly wear that on my sleeve. His chord voicings, economy picking, licks, string skipping are all things I’ve spent practising religiously and I’ve studied his songs relentlessly. Manhattan took me a good four years to master.

And his tone is absolutely gorgeous! Cleans are shimmering and otherworldly and his lead just sings and is full of clarity. I love interacting with EJ’s music, listening to it, playing it and referring to it for my own compositional work.

He’s also a delightful gentleman. Check out his recent lessons on social media where he’s also encouraging donations to local food banks in Texas.

My top Eric Johnson tracks:

Zap

Trademark

High Landrons

Forty Mile Town

Manhattan

SRV

Battle we have won

Your Sweet Eyes

Gem

Fatherly Downs