Skip to main content

Maverick Ad

Home

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Cover Stories
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Legacy Awards
  • Past Covers
  • Weekly Archive
Seeing Is Believing: Blues Rocker Scott Albert Johnson Holds Tomorrow Up To The Light On “Invisible”

Breadcrumb

  • Home
  • Seeing Is Believing: Blues Rocker Scott Albert Johnson Holds Tomorrow Up To The Light On “Invisible”
Scott Albert Johnson
Fri Sep 06, 2024
Cashbox Canada

You can treat the future as a daunting mystery to shrink from, or as a challenge to run toward with arms outstretched. Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Scott Albert Johnson opts for the latter on his current single, “Invisible,” a moving exhortation to jettison one’s fear of the unknown and bravely shoulder on through uncertain times, and now on over 60 radio stations across North America.

In a compelling, worldly voice that pinpoints his hopefulness as anything but youthful naïveté, Johnson lets us know he’s standing on the cusp of … well, something … and has made up his mind to find out what’s on the other side.

[I’m] staring at the invisible
I’m going to find a way to see
I’m looking straight ahead into the eyes
Of who I’m going to be

"With ‘Invisible’, I wanted to create a song that captured the nervous sense of foreboding that seems to be enveloping all of us right now," Johnson says. "Between the rise of AI and similarly advanced technologies, climate change, and a seemingly intractable sense of ‘us against them’ in our own backyard, it’s easy to feel hopeless. In spite of the heavy subject, however, the song is ultimately about optimism emerging from darkness.”

Taken purely as music, the track is sweet vindication of the St. Louis-born, Jackson, MS-raised Johnson’s diverse background and tastes. Its sonic palate confirms his trajectory as a Dylanesque, socially and spiritually conscious balladeer, but also nods to a host of other influences that includes Peter Gabriel, Radiohead, U2, the Police, Daniel Lanois, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Miles Davis and Bruce Hornsby.

Plus, the recording itself is a tour de force for Johnson: He played all the instruments except the drums (which were performed by his longtime collaborator, Kenny Graeber) and sang every vocal line save a backing part by his son, Charlie Johnson. There are also some highly satisfying blasts from the elder Johnson on his trademark instrument, the harmonica—his proficiency at which has made him the toast of music connoisseurs far and wide.

“Scott Albert Johnson manhandles his harmonica with a master’s flair,” Goldmine has raved. “He is a triple-threat artist who can sing, write and blow his emotions clear on out of his harmonica like nobody’s business.”

The musical and lyrical pull of “Invisible” takes on an added dimension in its haunting music video, which shows Johnson in both his full, corporeal form and as a stylized, sketch-like animation. The loose and highly symbolic narrative finds the artist standing at the edge of an ocean, initially hesitant to enter but ultimately immersing himself in the water, baptized and ready for whatever lies ahead.

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/track/19DSJo4OvK9GG8wM3h6eLq

The entire project was borne of the pandemic, a pressurized situation that inspired Johnson to hone his skills at playing various instruments and learn how to record himself properly at home. The result pushes him even farther into the uncharted territory he began to explore on his previous single, “Float,” which ended up getting airplay on more than 75 stations throughout the U.S. and being named "Pick of the Week" by Ann Delisi at WDET in Detroit. “Invisible” shows all the signs of connecting on an even deeper level, as it likewise mines the emotional unease we’ve all felt over the last few years. To Johnson, both songs are equally cathartic from a personal standpoint, since they were worked up at a time when he was facing a serious health scare.

“A few times, it looked like it could be life-threatening,” he reveals. “Fortunately, that has turned out not to be the case. But it’s been life-changing in terms of just getting through the day, although things have improved since I wrote these songs.”

Then again, pretty much Johnson’s entire life has been a case study in taking leaps of faith. He’s lived not only in St. Louis and Jackson, but in Canada, Washington, D.C., and Boston as well. And he’s done everything from study at Harvard to work in the Office of Management and Budget in D.C. to provide full-time counseling to students at his old high school. Although his musical career didn’t truly begin in earnest until he finally decided to master the harmonica in his late 20s, the payoff has been rich indeed: He’s been featured as a guest artist with the Boston Pops, won a performing-arts fellowship from the Mississippi Arts Commission and been named one of the “Hot 100” harp players worldwide by The Harmonica Company in the U.K.

So who better to preach the virtues of taking a chance and staring the world’s potentially confounding future square in the eye?

“I kind of say, ‘Bring it on,’” Johnson says. “I’m not making light of it; I think there may be some dark times ahead. But I am sort of a short-range pessimist and a long-range optimist. I think we’ll make it, eventually.”

scottalbertjohnsonmusic.com/

Reviews
Album
Scott Albert Johnson
Month: Jan 2022
Ileen Laura Ileen Laura Celebrates the Re-Prioritizing of Her Musical Gifts with New…
Julia Shuren Joins Italian Duo WAMI ‘It’s OK to Feel This Way’: Julia Shuren Joins Italian Duo WAMI for…
Faeya Folk Singer/Songwriter Faeya Explores Resilience and Vulnerability in Stunning…
The Lonesome Death of Elijah McCain The Co-Conspirators The Co-Conspirators Deliver a Masterful Mix of Folk Fact & Fiction…
Kelly Besd Kelly Besd Tackles Inequality With Call To Action & Open Arms in Hard-…
Ishi High Energy Soul-Funk Electro Outfit Ishi Strikes Sweet Gold with Newly Minted…
Callie McCullough Nashville’s Songbird Callie McCullough Announces Release of “Three Quarter…
Derek Helm Singer/Songwriter Derek Helm Laments Lost Love & Times Gone By with “Gone to the Sea…
Dracula Jackson Annapolis, MD Spellbinding Rocker Dracula Jackson Wants To Be Together with “Apart…
Ian Lake Toronto-Based Ian Lake Releases Heartfelt Video and New Single “Easier”
Sarah Tolle Sarah Tolle Voices Empathy to Those with Mental Illness in Piano-Driven…
Condor Matador Condor Matador Celebrating a Happy Return from Feeling Blah with “The ’90s Song”
Fiona Ross UK Contemporary Jazz Artist Fiona Ross Spotlights Self-Worth in Brave and…
Joe Satriani Joe Satriani Announces Release of New Studio Album, The Elephants of Mars
Canadian-American Roots-Folk Duo Dan Frechette & Laurel Thomsen Release “Make Me Come Alive” Canadian-American Roots-Folk Duo Dan Frechette & Laurel Thomsen Release “…

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 57
  • Page 58
  • Page 59
  • Page 60
  • Current page 61
  • Page 62
  • Page 63
  • Page 64
  • Page 65
  • …
  • Next page Next ›
  • Last page Last »

CEO/PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF
SANDY GRAHAM

email:sandygrahamemg@gmail.com 

Canadian Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Don Graham
email: dongrahamwriter@gmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Lisa Hartt
email: lisahartt87@hotmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada 
Michael Williams
email: greydread@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

International Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Malin Osth
email: malin@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Jonas Tancred
email: jonas@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - USA
Rob Durkee 
email: rockster2746@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Developer/Technical Support
Chris Wardman

email: info@chriswardman.com
website: chriswardman.com

Cashbox Cover Design and Graphic Artist
Jain McMillan

email: jainmcmillan@gmail.com

Contributing Photographer 
Tracey Savein - South Paw Productions
southpawproductions@rogers.com

 

 

 

Footer menu

  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Archive
  • Issue Archive
  • Past Covers