Evan Johns (July 12, 1956 – March 11, 2017) was an American guitarist specializing in a variety of music, including

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

Early life

Johns was born in Washington, DC and raised in McLean, Virginia. His mother worked for the

National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930 by cellist Hans Kindler, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The NSO regularly ...

. Johns dropped out of high school in the 10th grade and eventually graduated from

Emerson Preparatory School Emerson Preparatory School (also known as Emerson) was a small independent school, private high school in Northwest Washington, D.C., founded in 1852 as the Emerson Institute. It was Washington's oldest co-ed College-preparatory school, college p ...

. He later began hitchhiking and train-hopping around the country.

Career

Johns began his musical career in the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

area. There, Johns met and played with guitarist

Danny Gatton Daniel Wood Gatton Jr. (September 4, 1945 – October 4, 1994) was an American virtuoso guitarist who combined blues, rockabilly, jazz, and country to create a musical style he called "redneck jazz". Career Daniel Wood Gatton Jr. was born in ...

, writing three songs (including the title track) for Gatton’s 1978 album, ''Redneck Jazz''. After his stint with Gatton, Johns founded his own band, called "the H-Bombs", which became popular playing regular gigs in the D.C. area. Among the group's fans was

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and political activist. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Init ...

, founder of the

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Initially consisting of lead guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Fl ...

and owner of

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 by Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra and guitarist East Bay Ray in San Francisco, California, with the intention to release the Dead Kennedys' self-produced single " C ...

, who in liner notes to an H-Bombs EP, described the H-Bombs' music as "a little Tex-Mex here, garage power there, all whipped into a witch's brew of spitfire guitar and Evan's trademark vocal growl. This is the real stuff." In 1984, Johns relocated to Austin, Texas, to join The LeRoi Brothers. In Austin, Johns performed on the 1985 compilation album, ''Trash, Twang and Thunder'' by several Austin guitarists who styled themselves as Big Guitars From Texas; the album earned a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination for rock-instrumental music. The same year, Johns also contributed the original rockabilly song "Darlene Darlene" to The LeRoi Brothers' album "Lucky Lucky Me". In 1985, after leaving The LeRois, Johns re-formed the H-Bombs in Austin and continued as its leader. Johns and the H-Bombs played together for several years thereafter, becoming known for their eclectic repertoire, summarized by one reviewer as "cajun, rockabilly, punk, surf, blues, country – even spaghetti Western soundtrack music." '' Rockit Fuel Only'' was released in 1991.

Personal life

In the mid-1990s, Johns began to suffer alcohol-related and other health problems and stopped playing regularly in 1998, but continued to write and record music until his death. Johns died on March 11, 2017, from complications following surgery, in Austin, Texas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, Evan 1956 births 2017 deaths American rockabilly musicians Guitarists from Virginia American male guitarists The LeRoi Brothers members 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians People from McLean, Virginia