Damon Johnson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Damon Johnson | |
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 Damon Johnson performing with Brother Cane in 2005
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| Background information | |
| Born | July 13, 1964, Macon, Georgia, USA |
| Genre(s) | Hard rock Southern rock Heavy metal Country Country rock Garage rock |
| Associated acts | Brother Cane Alice Cooper Whiskey Falls Faith Hill Sammy Hagar |
| Website | www.damonjohnson.com |
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The introduction of this article is too short. To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, it should be expanded to summarize the article. |
Damon Rogers Johnson (born on July 13, 1964) is an American born guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, best known for his work with the hard rock band Brother Cane, and as a guitarist for Alice Cooper. He is currently the lead guitarist and backup vocalist for the country music group Whiskey Falls.
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[edit] Early career
Damon lived in Monroeville, Alabama during his grade school years. It was there that he became obsessed with guitar and formed his first garage band with other 8th grade friends. He later moved with his family to Geraldine, Alabama where he graduated high school, all the while playing in various bands in the northeast Alabama area.
An offer to join Split The Dark, an established band fronted by former members of the power-pop band Hotel prompted Johnson's move to Birmingham, Alabama in 1987. Split The Dark was a very popular act on the Southeast US college club circuit and had won the MTV "Basement Tapes" competition in 1986 but failed to secure a record deal. He would later get his first taste of "bands with record deals" as the guitarist for the Atlanta, Georgia band Witness in 1988 and with the Memphis, Tennessee band, The Delta Rebels, in 1989. During this time he also performed with the bands Chinatown and Chyld. It was with Chyld that Damon garnered the attention of the A&R at Virgin Records. After securing a developmental deal in November 1990, the label eventually persuaded Damon to take over the lead vocal position, and change the band's name to Brother Cane.
[edit] Brother Cane
It was Brother Cane that would bring Damon genuine national notoriety. The band released three albums on Virgin Records (the self titled debut which sold 250,000 copies, "Seeds," and "Wishpool") that would yield three #1 singles on rock radio ("Got No Shame," "And Fools Shine On," and "I Lie in the Bed I Make"). "And Fools Shine On" was also featured in the horror film "Halloween 6." Brother Cane toured extensively as a headliner and also as a supporting act on tours by Van Halen, Aerosmith, Robert Plant, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Candlebox. After what Virgin Records considered an unsatisfactory yield for record sales, the band was released from their contract, and amicably disbanded in 1998.
[edit] Post Brother Cane
Some of Damon's other notable accomplishments are contributing songwriting and guitar duties to Sammy Hagar's Marching to Mars album (1997), recording an all acoustic solo album of mostly his own compositions, (Dust - released in 2000), co-writing the song "Every Day" for Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks (released as the first single from her solo album, Trouble in Shangri-La in 2001), releasing albums with two different side projects (Slave to the System in 2001 and Red Halo in 2003) and playing electric and acoustic guitars on Faith Hill's smash hit single, "Cry" (2002). Damon briefly joined the band Damn Yankees with Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw, and Ted Nugent, and recorded an album that was never released. Damon also performed as lead guitarist for legendary rock vocalist John Waite (2001-2003). Damon, along with friends Billy Wilkes on drums, and Allen Park on bass, performs in the southeast US with the cover band The Welfare. In 2006, Damon joined the coutry rock band Whiskey Falls. Damon also co-wrote the Carlos Santana song "Just Feel Better" with Jamie Houston and Buck Johnson, which featured legendary vocalist Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.
In 2005 Brother Cane reunited to perform two shows. A live DVD is also in the works.
[edit] Alice Cooper
Damon was recruited for Alice Cooper's band in 2004. Damon co-wrote and recorded with Alice Cooper on his album "Dirty Diamonds" and toured with the band from 2004 to 2007, leaving to commit to his new band, Whiskey Falls. Damon was succeeded by Jason Hook in the Alice Cooper band.
[edit] Personal life
Damon and his wife Lynda have a son, Gabriel. He has three children from his first marriage to Jamie Collins: Heather, Marshall, and Sarah Johnson. He is also an avid golfer and often playing with Alice Cooper and bandmates while on tour. He also records and produces a variety of artists in Double Dragon, his personal studio.
[edit] Discography
Albums
- Witness - debut (1988) (Arista Records)
- The Delta Rebels – debut, 1989 (Polygram Records)
- Brother Cane – debut, 1993 (Virgin Records)
- Brother Cane – Seeds, 1995 (Virgin Records)
- Sammy Hagar – Marching to Mars, 1997
- Brother Cane – Wishpool, 1998 (Virgin Records)
- Damon Johnson – Dust, 2000 (independent)
- Damn Yankees – 3rd album (unreleased)
- Slave To The System – debut, 2002 (independent)
- Faith Hill – Cry, 2002 (Warner Bros. Records)
- Red Halo – Dead Man’s Vitamin, 2003 (independent)
- John Waite – The Hard Way, 2004
- Alice Cooper – Dirty Diamonds, 2005 (Eagle Rock)
- Chris Scott – Hard Livin, 2005 (independent)
- Slave To The System – debut (re-issue), 2006 (Spitfire Records)
- Alice Cooper – Live At Montreux 2005, CD & DVD, 2006 (Eagle Rock)
- Whiskey Falls-Whiskey Falls 2007, CD (Midas Records)
Other songwriting contributions:
- Stevie Nicks – Trouble in Shangrila ("Everyday" – Johnson/Shanks)
- Ted Nugent – Craveman ("I Won’t Go Away" – Johnson/Nugent)
- Skid Row – Thick Skin ("Ghost", "See You Around", "Down From Underground" – Johnson/Bolan/Sabo)
- Carlos Santana - All That I Am ("Just Feel Better" - Houston/Johnson/Johnson)
[edit] References
- DamonJohnson.com
- Look4SomethingMore.com
- CDBaby.com
- AliceCooper.com
- Amazon.com
- Wikipedia
[edit] External links
- DamonJohnson.com
- Official Alice Cooper Website
- Official Slave to the System Website
- The Welfare Website
- Damon Johnson Fansite
