Review: Guitarist Eric Johanson’s Searing Blues Rock Gets Deep and Dirty

Eric Johanson
The Deep and the Dirty
(Ruf)
3 1/2 out of 5 stars

It’s easy, but incorrect, to peg Louisiana guitarist Eric Johanson as simply a blues rocker. His influences are more wide-ranging than just blues and rock, a fact made clear by two pandemic solo releases (Covered Tracks Volumes 1 and 2), where he interpreted music from pop artists as disparate as Nine Inch Nails, Fiona Apple, The Beatles, and The Marshall Tucker Band along with deep bluesmen Son House, Mississippi John Hurt and Little Walter.

On his fourth studio band album, Johanson injects diversity through a dozen songs incorporating bits of those artists’ approaches into originals, about half co-written with producer Jesse Dayton. Like Gov’t Mule, who also dips into different genres to yield their own bluesy sound, Johanson grabs funk, soul, and singer/songwriter threads, bringing color and variety to a set that primarily combines blues with harder-edged, Hendrix-infused rock. Most critically, Johanson pens solid material that, like Hendrix, displays his guitar prowess but within the borders of melodies and, to a lesser extent, lyrics that push the boundaries of blues/rock.

He also displays a powerful, full-throated voice, similar at times to that of Paul Rodgers, bringing soul to sturdy riff rockers such as “Beyond the Sky” (evocative of a lost Free tune) and the gutsy, Gary Moore-styled blues rock of “Stepping Stone.” Johanson also runs his guitar through distortion effects, most noticeable on the opening crunchy Robin Trower-inflected “Don’t Hold Back” and the rip-roaring, pulsing “Galaxy Girl.” His taut rhythm section lays down a throbbing beat on “Undertow,” an original that could easily be an obscure Rory Gallagher side.

The groove hits full swamp mode for “Familiar Sound” where he describes trying to escape what might be depression, only for it to return with No matter where I fly or where I fall/If I swim or drown/In my mind I’m haunted by/That old familiar sound as he double tracks acoustic slide and electric guitars. The introspective Southern rocker “Borrowed Time,” featuring Johanson’s slide work, is another example of attempting to distance himself from the past, singing But still I’m on the run in my dreams/Midnight ghosts won’t let me go.

Only the closing, slow “She Is the Song” adheres to a stricter blues template. But even here Johanson’s unique chords bring inventiveness to a standard progression. At just under five minutes, it’s the disc’s longest and arguably most moving cut, displaying his six-string skills which shift from subtle to stinging and back.

I’m not the safe choice sings Johanson on the title track. Yet based on his eclectic style, searing guitar work, and persuasive songwriting he delivers a driving collection well worth choosing.