Eric Johanson to release “Live at DBA: New Orleans Bootleg”
New Orleans guitarist/singer/songwriter Eric Johanson announces the release of a double-disc live recording entitled Live at DBA: New Orleans Bootleg, sourced from his band’s fiery live show just weeks ago at DBA on Frenchmen Street in New Orleans, January 15, 2022.
The recording follows in the tradition of the older, more raw live albums that inspired Johanson, before the era of post-producing and digitally perfecting a live recording became the norm.
Johanson remarks, “Growing up I was always taken in by these raw live recordings that captured a moment in time. Sometimes they were my favorite thing to listen to by an artist. Albums like James Brown’s Live at the Apollo, Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East, Stevie Ray Vaughan’s In the Beginning, Gov’t Mule’s Live at the Roseland Ballroom, and so on. There is something about the fact that this magic just happened, these little moments that were as natural and unrehearsed as breathing air, and yet I’m listening to them years later.”
“When I listened back to the recording of this show, it just had that unapologetically raw thing I loved about my favorite live albums. Live performance is really the center of what I do. The studio records take on a new life as the songs are performed with an audience. We obviously haven’t been able to get out there as much as we would have liked over the past couple years, but we still wanted to share that energy with people.”
Johanson’s touring band is made up of Terry Scott, Jr on drums and Will Repholz on bass. The trio re-ignite 19 mostly original songs, stretching them out and showcasing Johanson’s unique brand of New Orleans-grown blues, jam rock, and Americana.
The live recording features three covers, two of which previously appeared on Johanson’s studio releases: Chuck Berry’s “Oh Louisiana” (Burn It Down), Allman Brothers Band’s “Midnight Rider” (Covered Tracks: Vol. 1), as well as a scorching version of Muddy Waters’ “Champagne and Reefer”.
Live at DBA: New Orleans Bootleg is slated for release 2/18/2022.