JohnnyG - ProfilesArchive

About Me

JohnnyG - just who is this guy ? Well, he was born 110 blocks from Downtown Cleveland, OH and spent his early years on a street that overlooked the Flats of the Cuyahoga River Valley. From his window he could see the steel furnace gas jets, hear drop-forge hammers and iron ore trains thundering through the night and smell the smoke from foundry stacks. He lived in house full of Greek parents and siblings and grandparents, so the music of his ethnic heritage was always there. When he was about 12, he found his mothers, old dusty Gibson Hawiian lap steel guitar in the attic, began plinking out some notes to tunes on the radio and then promptly etched is initials into it - just like Elvis P: Yea, mom was pissed. But at first the guitar took a back seat to the trumpet, coronet and clarinet. JohnnyG began playing music seriously in the late 1960,s as a back-up singer, blues harp player, horn player, percussionist and rhythm guitarist. For reasons known only to a few, he gave up performing publicly for almost 20 years before being convinced to return in 2001. Today he is a singer who plays guitar, not the other way around, and performs unique arrangements of cover tunes along with his own originals. He currently gigs at clubs in Cleveland, Akron, Columbus, Wadsworth and Wooster, OH, and has also played clubs in Boulder, CO. Columbia, SC, Ithaca, NY and Honolulu, HI. His styles include blues, roots and alt country. He frequently collaborates with a great guitarist, close friend and band leader, Len Damico (Brighton Blues Band, Word of Mouth, and Workshop) as well as with Jeff Kendall (Billy Zen & Gruver Delux) and Crazy Pete (of Victorian Midnight Cafe fame). He's also opened for The Cowboy Hillbilly Hippie Folk Band and The Woovs. He currently lives in Medina OH and is working on a first CD of original material. Oh yea, the two guitars in the photo are his close family members: 1999 American Acoustech flattop - "HONEYBEE" and 1951 Epiphone Zenith archtop - "SWEET LUCILLE": Both have been with him many years.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 1/29/2007
Band Members: Guitar, Vocals, Percussion, Harmonica - JohnnyG
Free Myspace Layouts by MyspaceLayoutSpy.com
Acoustic Guitar Myspace Layouts

Influences: John Hiatt, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Six Mile Grove, Allman Brothers, Little Feat, Gov't Mule, Warren Haynes, Sting, Van Morrison, Traffic, BB King, Taj Mahal, Bob Marley, John Mayer, Michael Kelsey, Bonnie Raitt, Rory Block, Albert King, The Four Tops, ALO, String Cheese Incident, Grateful Dead, Rat Dog, Carlos Santana, McCoy Tyner.
Record Label: Self produced

My Blog

Bend Like the Willow

I've often heard it said that to get along in life it is better to bend like a willow than stand like an oak. Well, I'm going to say this: I've not met many willows in my life who were able to main...
Posted by on Fri, 15 May 2009 12:59:00 GMT

Nothing Gold Can Stay

I was talking to a buddy the other night on the cell about America and how its citizens all have this kind of shared dream that somehow they and their children are entitled to the best educati...
Posted by on Fri, 01 May 2009 11:20:00 GMT

Who I Really Am

I don't need a gimic or phony-ass deviceI don't need costume to hide this sacrificeI don't need a funny hat or goofy looking shadesI don't need a french beret to cover up my braids What I am is what y...
Posted by on Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:54:00 GMT

Enlightenment

I was watching a movie about a ninja monk last night. At one point he said that to know others is to be wise and to know yourself is to be enlightened. I thought about that observation a lot yesterd...
Posted by on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:10:00 GMT

Grow A Garden

When I was a little kid living in a ghetto 'hood in Cleveland, their was this old guy named Mr. Joe who had a small house with a small garden next to it. Mr. Joe was one of a few people on my block w...
Posted by on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:25:00 GMT

Jammin’ Wit A Pilgrim

Collaboration, even on the most basic level, is just so very fine. Hung out in my basement on this cold, rainy Sunday afternoon just jammin' with a guitar buddy, Chis, whose last name ...
Posted by on Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:42:00 GMT

BAIL ME OUT

This blog is like WAY OUTSIDE THE BOUNDS OF WHAT I USUALLY WRITE... I've been involved in small businesses and had to, at times, ask investors to bail me out. So would som...
Posted by on Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:24:00 GMT

When It Fades

I'm staring out this window and everything right now is covered in snow. It's cold as shaved balls in a brass jockstrap and I have absolutely no motivation to even step out there, take a break f...
Posted by on Mon, 08 Dec 2008 09:55:00 GMT

Johnny G. Opens for The Woovs @ Victorian Cafe - Columbus, O 10/24

Ya'll Gotta' Show - Gonna' Be A Jam - Float Like a Butterfly : Sting Like a Bee Johnny G. opens for The Woovs (www.myspace.com/thewoovs) Friday, October 24th 8-10 PM Victorian Midnight Cafe - 5th &...
Posted by on Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:26:00 GMT

Short

Who shot my soul so full of holes that it whistles now when the wind blowsWho put their mark upon my brow so that I can't remember then from nowWho's voodoo doll is stuck with pins that...
Posted by on Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:09:00 GMT