BASSIST FOR THE STARS: VAIL JOHNSON TELLS ALL IN RED BARN LIMITED ENGAGEMENT

You might not recognize him on the street nor know his name, but you’ve probably seen him onstage and you’ve most certainly have heard him…probably many times.

Vail Johnson is his name, and he’s a bassist. Not just any bassist, mind you, but THE bassist when it comes to studio work, recordings, and live performance.  He’s been doing it for over 40 years with some of the top names in music, and he’s bringing a career-ful of behind-the-scenes stories and almost every note of the great music he’s had a hand in to the Red Barn Theatre in Key West.

Want some names he’s put the bottom under? How about Kenny G, Whitney Houston, Herbie Hancock, Stevie Nicks, Keb’ Mo’, George Benson, Michael Bolton, James Ingram, Gil Scott Heron, Paula Abdul, MC Hammer, T. Graham Brown, David Cassidy, Steve Perry, Patti Austen, Peabo Bryson, Edgar Winter, and Christopher Cross, just to name a very few.

Johnson was ready when the door opened. The youngest of seven brothers (one of his older siblings is Key West’s Jeff Johnson), Vail was immersed in all kinds of music through his family – classical, choral, gospel, bluegrass, Dixieland, Top 40. He absorbed it all, mixing in whatever he came across, including jazz, hip-hop, metal rock, and pure improvisation. His virtuosity, passion, and humor were his calling card, and his ability to play virtually any style extremely well sealed the deal.

And all of it is on display in his one-man show – from Kenny G’s, George Benson’s, and Herbie Hancock’s jazz to Steve Perry’s and Stevie Nicks’s rock, to Peabo Bryson’s soul and Keb’Mo’s blues.

“I tell stories about the artists I’ve played and toured with, and then play and sing along with the tracks I’ve done with them or played on tour. I do some of my own stuff too. And what I do is not just ‘play bass’…people are surprised what I can do on a bass in terms of playing music. Look…it’s a guitar. It just happens to be a bass. I can make it sound like a Spanish guitar, or bluesy finger-picking, or monster slapping.”

Ask Johnson who was the most fun he’s had with any artist, and the answer might surprise you. “Edgar Winter,” he said. “For me to play ‘Frankenstein’ with Edgar Winter? Man, that was freakin’ fun!”