Musicians delight Civic Center crowd
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Johnson treated the audience to his special brand of smooth vocals and inspired guitar playing, along with some amusing banter, while he was on stage. The performance marked his first appearance at the annual fundraiser, which benefits Families in Crisis, a local non-profit organization which provides shelter, clothing and food to families dealing with domestic violence.
Johnson said he was pleased to be able to lend his talents.
?It?s nice to be a part of something that?s actually about something,? Johnson said. ?When people clean their plates tonight it?s for a good cause, a socially conscious cause. It?s always a treat to do that, instead of doing something that?s just me, just for the sake of a show.?
Since the event is called Songwriters Night, Johnson also passed along some advice for aspiring songwriters.
?I do workshops,? Johnson said, ?and I remember two bits of advice that stuck with me. One was don?t quit. You lose all your options if you do that. If you don?t quit and you persevere, you have a chance. It?s amazing how many people just quit and let go.
?And then this one guy told me ? get good. And I thought, OK, thank you very much. But he went on and it?s like, if you?re any kind of a performer then you know how to avoid the stuff you can?t do. For me that?s almost my definition of an artist,? Johnson said. ?It?s just somebody who knows what they can?t do and then goes ahead and doesn?t do it. We all have little holes in our education, guitar-wise and songwriting-wise. Find out what they are. In a way, you know what you need to learn a lot better than other folks. Just go out and get good. That was invaluable for me.?
Though Johnson?s style tends more towards storytelling, he acknowledges music can have a message.
?These days I think if you do that, if you?re going to write something that?s cause oriented, you can?t be in-your-face about it,? Johnson said. ?You have to be a little covert, a little more subtle. But, you know, Harlan Howard said, ?If it?s not a love song, then it?s not very important,?? Johnson added with a laugh.
During his set, Jacky Jack White talked about his trip out west to Mexia, Texas to do the eulogy for his friend, the great country songwriter Cindy Walker, who passed away recently. Walker penned such hits as ?Dream Baby,? a hit for Roy Orbison, and ?You Don?t Know Me,? recorded by Eddy Arnold.
White performed an emotionally charged rendition of Walker?s ?Child of the King,? accompanying himself on a well-worn parlor sized Martin guitar bequeathed him by Walker. White had actually been given his choice of Walker?s several guitars, but he chose the ancient Martin that Walker herself had used when she toured.
?She was a great lady and one of the greatest songwriters of all time,? White said. ?I?ll really miss her.?
The tuneful night also featured performances by locals Joe Stotts, Travis Prater, the ?Singing Judge? Barry Medley, the Warren Family, and Fincher and Stone. Nashville?s Clark Williams also performed, along with multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter Earl Hughes, who made the trip all the way from Alaska to record a CD produced by Williams and agreed to be a part of the show.