Will Johnson

Honored to ride with my friend John Moreland again for many shows, including some just-announced eastern/midwestern winter dates:

Nov. 18 – Austin, TX/Antone’s
Nov. 19 – Houston, TX/Heights Theater
Nov. 20 – Dallas, TX/Kessler
Nov. 21 – OKC, OK/Tower Theater
Feb. 17 – Nashville, TN/Basement East
Feb. 18 – Asheville, NC/Grey Eagle
Feb. 19 – Saxapahaw, NC/Haw River Ballroom
Feb. 20 – DC/Union Stage
Feb. 22 – Philadelphia, PA/World Cafe Live
Feb. 23 – Brooklyn, NY/Music Hall of Williamsburg
Feb. 24 – Boston, MA/Sinclair
Feb. 26 – Toronto, ON/Horseshoe
Feb. 28 – Ann Arbor/The Ark
Mar. 1 – Evanston, IL/SPACE
Mar. 3 – Minneapolis, MN/Cedar Cultural Center
Mar. 4 – Omaha, NE/Waiting Room

♥️, -wj
📷: @ramblecreek

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(photo by Barry Toranto)

We’re looking for people to host Will Johnson shows in October. 

In order to do these shows as safely as possible for hosts, guests and artists, we’ll be requiring all guests to agree to specific terms before they can purchase tickets to attend a show at your place…

+ Everyone attending must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the date of the show.
+ Everyone attending must show a completed COVID-19 vaccine card to enter.
+ Everyone attending must wear a mask at all times while inside the space.
+ We’ll collect contact details from guests at the time of ticket purchase so we may conduct contact tracing efforts that may be necessary after the show date.

OK! On to the fun stuff…

We’ll make this as easy as possible for the hosts. All you have to do is let us borrow your living room for about three hours, check people in at the door when they arrive and in return you’ll get 5 free tickets for your friends and our eternal gratitude.

Do you have large living room, loft space, community space, art gallery, yoga studio, coffee shop or other space that can comfortably and safely host up to 30 people? Do you live in or near one of the cities listed below? If so, please read everything on this page and fill in the form to submit your place. Will would love to play a show at your place.

October 12 : Oklahoma City OK
October 13 : Tulsa OK
October 14 : Springfield MO
October 15 : Arkansas or Mississippi
October 16 : Mississippi or Louisiana
October 17 : Houston TX

IMPORTANT!
1. Please read everything so you know how it works.
2. PLEASE VISIT THIS LINK TO FILL IN THE FORM TO SUBMIT YOUR PLACE
3. Sit tight and we’ll get back to as soon as possible if we can confirm a show at your place.

A few things we want you to know about hosting a show. . .

1. LOCATION
You have a large living room, loft space, community space, art gallery, yoga studio, recording studio, coffee shop or other space where we can do a private show that can comfortably and safely host up to 40 people.

There needs to be street parking, parking garage or public transportation nearby so guests can get to your place easily. Please check with your neighbors and make sure they’re ok with a bunch of extra people coming over before you offer to host a show. It would be a huge bummer if someone called the cops because of all the extra cars and people coming to your place.

2. CAPACITY
We’re currently limiting capacity for indoor shows to 35 tickets. Please keep in mind when determining your capacity, you get five free tickets for friends that won’t be included in the ticketed capacity. The capacity you tell us will be the number of tickets we put on sale. EXAMPLE: If we sell 35 tickets and you invite 5 guests, there will be 40 people at the show.

3. TICKET PRICE
Ticket price will be $20. Everyone must buy tickets in advance. No tickets will be sold at the door. There will be no reselling or third-party tickets sales. All tickets sales are direct to fans from Undertow. Limit 4 tickets per person. These shows usually sell out quickly and we want everyone to have a fair opportunity to buy tickets.

4. GUEST LIST
We’ll provide the host with a list of everyone coming to the show. The host won’t have to deal with any money and will only need to check people off the list as they arrive. We ask guests to arrive between 7:15-7:45pm. The shows start at 8pm and we ask everyone to be out of your space within 30 minutes after the show has ended. That’s usually no later than 10pm.

VERY IMPORTANT! We are requiring all guests bring a completed COVID-19 vaccine card and show it at the door to enter. The artist will be at the door with the host to help check-in guests as they arrive. There will be no exceptions. If someone doesn’t have their vaccine card, they will not be allowed to enter.

5. FREE TICKETS FOR HOSTS
The host gets 5 additional free tickets for the show. If you have other friends beyond your 5 guests who want to come to the show you should direct them buy tickets on-line. These guests will also need to bring a completed vaccine card to attend the show.

6. PROMOTING THE SHOW
The shows will promoted on our websites, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and word-of-mouth. Your home address will not be published on the web and will only be given to people who purchase tickets.

We’ll need your help to spread the word on your Facebook and Twitter too. We’ll create a Facebook event for each show and make you a host of the event so you can easily invite your friends (Thank you!). Remember, please don’t post your address. The address only goes to people after they buy tickets. We need to keep the location private so random people don’t try to show up and pay at the door.

7. SOUND SYSTEM & LIGHTING
You don’t need a sound system. Most of the shows are totally acoustic. But some artists bring a small sound system if they’re playing electric instruments, so they will need access to a nearby electrical outlet. We’ll let you know.

You don’t need any special lighting. But it would be great if you had some kind of ambient lighting like a lamp on coffee table, floor lamp, or overhead lights with a dimmer to help create a cozy mood.

8. SEATING
You don’t need seating for everyone. If you have a bunch of chairs, great! But most shows are floor seating and we let guests know they should bring folding chair, cushion or pillow to sit on during the show.

9. OPENING ARTISTS
We don’t have openers on the living room shows. We’re trying to make this as easy as possible and minimize the amount of time guests are in your space. It’s much easier for us to keep things simple and stay on schedule if it’s just one artist playing.

10. FRIENDLY PETS
We love dogs and cats… we really do! But an excitable pet running around during the show can be distracting for the guests and performers. If you have curious and friendly 4-legged family members, would you be ok with putting them in another part of the house or sending them to a friend’s house during the show?

# Thanks! #

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WESTERN TOUR
It’s all moving fast again, but I’m happy to announce that new shows are scheduled. Churches, art spaces, living rooms, and a small theater or two. All acoustic, no PA, smaller allotments of tickets avail., vaccinations required, and masking as per each host’s guidelines.

August 5 : San Antonio TX (SOLD OUT)
August 6 : Austin TX (SOLD OUT)
August 7 : Dallas TX (SOLD OUT)
August 19 : Marfa TX (SOLD OUT)
August 20 : Albuquerque NM (SOLD OUT)
August 21 : Fort Collins CO (SOLD OUT)
August 23 : Salt Lake City UT (SOLD OUT)
August 24 : Boise ID (SOLD OUT)
August 25 : Walla Walla WA (SOLD OUT)
August 26 : Tacoma WA (SOLD OUT)
August 27 : Portland OR (SOLD OUT)
August 29 : Chico CA (SOLD OUT)
August 30 : Petaluma CA (SOLD OUT)
August 31 : Reno NV (SOLD OUT)
September 1 : Reno NV (SOLD OUT)
September 3 : Phoenix AZ (SOLD OUT)

TICKETS ON SALE HERE

Thanks!

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Please join us Thursday, April 8 at 8pm CDT for a live streaming reading, conversation and musical performance.

Will Johnson will read from and discuss his new novel, If or When I Call, with friend and renowned North Carolina writer, Michael Parker (Prairie Fever, All I Have In This World), and there will be a short musical performance by Austin greats, Little Mazarn.

This event will be streamed live from Ramble Creek Studios in Austin TX.

BUY TICKET $10

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I still dig Dominique Wilkins, and my new book, If or When I Call is released today courtesy of Goliad Media

(Synopsis, via Goliad). “Between interstates and county lines, life in rural Missouri unfolds in a progression of simple moments that carry the weight of every hard thing gone by. Parker and Melinda are searching for themselves in the hollows of their estranged marriage. Parker, haunted by the demons of addiction, lives every moment at the edge of an undiagnosed disorder- a darkness that steals his awareness and throws him into convulsions. Melinda, on an odyssey of her own, knows Parker’s struggles all too well, and as they try to help their teenage son come to terms with their lives apart, they have only their memories of a brighter life to get by. A hymn to the lives we overlook in the quiet places around us, and how close we are to living them ourselves.”

A few quick thanks – to my family: Jessie, Jack, Hazel, and Sonora. To Darin Bradley, Chris Welch, and all at Goliad. To Matt White and John Moreland. To Michael Parker, Don Lee, Kathy Pories, Wiley Cash, Willy Vlautin, George Singleton, Ashleigh Bryant Phillips, and Patterson Hood for reading this in its various stages, and for encouraging me onward. To Lori Hettler. And to Rebecca and Adeena at American Short Fiction.

Avail. via indiebound.org and various other conduits. Thanks, and take care.

-Will J.

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Will Johnson’s new album “El Capitan” is out today via Bandcamp. Keeled Scales is accepting preorders for the vinyl release, which will ship this fall.

There’s a light blue vinyl version limited to 300 copies and a classic black vinyl version. Recorded in three days in June with Britton Beisenherz at Ramble Creek Recording Studio, the album is Will on acoustic guitar with contributions from Britton, Thor Harris, and Lindsey Verrill of Little Mazarn.

GET IT:
https://willjohnson.bandcamp.com/album/el-capitan

A few words from Will about the album:

“These things started years ago at a friends dining room table in Oregon. They built up on desert drives, in hotel bathrooms, in casino bars, and on trail runs. They mortared together into something sensible (to me) over time. Some songs are quite old, and some are pandemic-new. It feels like we’re at the mercy of nature now more than ever, and the quiet of this time seemed right enough to make this record. I took a hundred dollar Stella guitar to my friend, Britton’s. We spent 3 days, distanced, building, avoiding old habits, drinking Tecates, and moving steadily. Our friends Thor and Lindsey contributed beautifully, from afar. There’s tape hiss and imperfections, and expected joy in the act of making something new. Thanks, WJ”

(LP cover photo by Will, studio photo by Abigail Enright)

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