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Eric D. Johnson | |
|---|---|
 Eric D. Johnson at Newport Folk Festival, 2019 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | EDJ |
| Born | (1976-06-07)June 7, 1976 (age 49) |
| Origin | Chicago,Illinois, United States |
| Genres | Folk rock,alternative country,indie rock |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels | Perishable Records,Sub Pop,Easy Sound Recording Company,Merge Records |
| Website | www |
Eric Donald Johnson (born June 7, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the leader and sole permanent member of the influential folk-rock bandFruit Bats, and for his tenure as a member ofThe Shins. He has also scored films, most notablyOur Idiot Brother andSmashed.
In 2019, Johnson formed the folk groupBonny Light Horseman, alongsideAnaïs Mitchell and multi-instrumentalistJosh Kaufman.
Johnson moved around the Midwest as a child and spent his adolescent and teenage years in Chicago’s Western Suburbs.[1] He planned on becoming a filmmaker or screenwriter but discovered an interest in songwriting after joining a local band in high school.[2]
Johnson did not attend college but instead moved to Chicago and became involved with the local music scene there, getting a job at the Old Town School of Folk Music where he taught classes and worked as a house manager for concerts.[3]
In the late 1990’s, Johnson fronted an indie-rock band called I Rowboat. In early 2000, he became a member of the experimental folk-rock groupCalifone. It was on tour with Califone that he befriended the members ofModest Mouse and The Shins, who took an interest in Fruit Bats and made an introduction to the record labelSub Pop.[4]
Fruit Bats signed to Sub Pop in 2002 and became part of the label's early 2000s folk-rock boom. They would go on to record four records on the label.
They played at festivals such asSasquatch Festival,Bonnaroo Music Festival, andLe Guess Who, and made TV appearances onLast Call with Carson Daly andThe Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
Fruit Bats' 2003 song "When U Love Somebody" was featured in the filmYouth in Revolt,[5] and has been covered by bands such asThe Decemberists,[6] Said the Whale, and Guster.
In November 2013, Johnson announced he would be dissolving Fruit Bats.[7] They played what was to be their farewell show at theAladdin Theater inPortland, Oregon on November 16, 2013.[8]
In 2014, Johnson released an album under the name EDJ. The subsequent release was not a commercial success, and was later described by Johnson as a “career stalling move.”[9]
In 2015, My Morning Jacket invited Johnson to open a tour with his EDJ project, and instead Johnson opted to re-form Fruit Bats to do the tour. This led to the albumAbsolute Loser, which featured the popular single “Humbug Mountain Song.”
In 2018, Fruit Bats signed toMerge Records and the following year released their seventh studio albumGold Past Life, of which Variety wrote, “there won’t be many albums in 2019 with as many quotable, cut-to-the-marrow lines as this one has.”[10]
In 2020, they releasedThe Pet Parade, which was recorded remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic with producer (and Johnson’s Bonny Light Horseman bandmate)Josh Kaufman. That same year, Johnson recorded a full-album cover of Smashing Pumpkins’ 1993 albumSiamese Dream.
In early 2021, Fruit Bats made their first network television performance since 2009, performing onLate Night With Seth Meyers.
Johnson joinedThe Shins in late 2006, after joining the band in the studio for their third studio album,Wincing the Night Away (2007). He was a member of the band until 2011, and made appearances onSaturday Night Live,The Tonight Show, andLate Night With Conan O’Brien.[11][12]
Johnson left the band in 2011 due to scheduling conflicts withFruit Bats, and went on to appear on several tracks on their fourth studio album,Port of Morrow. Johnson briefly reappeared with the band for their set at the Bonnaroo Festival in June 2012.[13]
The band first came together at theEaux Claires festival in 2018 when invited by the festivals co-foundersJustin Vernon (ofBon Iver) andAaron Dessner (ofThe National). From the early sessions for this performance, the trio decided to form the band in a more official capacity. Their self-titled debut album was released on January 25, 2020. The album contains a mixture of traditional British folk songs and original material. It was subsequently nominated for theGrammy Award for Best Folk Album as well as theGrammy Award for Best American Roots Performance for the track "Deep in Love." The album was awarded Best Americana Record at the 2021Libera Awards and was also nominated for theLibera Award for Best Breakthrough Artist. The group's sophomore album,Rolling Golden Holy, was released in October 2022. Singles "California" and "Summer Dream" were released in advance of the album. Unlike the group's debut,Rolling Golden Holy comprises all original material.[14]
In 2010 Johnson was hired to score Max Winkler's comedyCeremony, starringUma Thurman andMichael Angarano.[15] Later that year he worked on directorJesse Peretz’s featureOur Idiot Brother, starringPaul Rudd, which premiered at theSundance Film Festival in 2011. Johnson co-scored the film withNathan Larson, and also wrote and produced three original songs for the soundtrack, as well as contributing a cover of "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree." In 2013 Johnson collaborated withVetiver front manAndy Cabic on scores for two critically lauded Sundance features - one for the dramedySmashed and the other for the documentaryAfter Tiller.[16]
In 2012 Johnson collaborated with Andy Cabic ofVetiver on the music for the critically lauded Sundance featureSmashed, a score which landed on theAcademy Awards’ shortlist for that year.[17]
In 2016 Johnson scored director Rod Blackhurst’s feature debutHere Alone, which won theTribeca Film Festival’s audience award. The following year saw Johnson scoring the comedy featureSpivak for Netflix.
Johnson has occasionally appeared as an actor, most notably a cameo as a Grateful Dead cover band member inJean-Marc Vallée’s 2014 dramaWild. He also provided voices for various characters in the cartoon pilotE Coli High which premiered onIFC Selects,[18] as well as the voiceover forTurboTax’s Super Bowl Ad in 2021.[19]
In 2010 Johnson founded theHuichica Music Festival along with Jeff Bundschu, owner ofGundlach Bundschu winery. The festival is held on the grounds of Gundlach Bundschu winery in Sonoma, California. Produced and curated by Johnson, the festival has frequently featured not only sets from Fruit Bats, but also acts such asJonathan Wilson,Hand Habits,Robyn Hitchcock,Lee Fields,Real Estate,Love,Shannon and the Clams,Silver Apples,Tara Jane O'Neil,Bob Weir, and many more. Johnson stopped working with the festival in 2020.[20]
In November 2012 atSan Francisco’sWarfield Theatre, Johnson performedVan Morrison’s songs fromThe Last Waltz in a recreation ofThe Band’s 1976 farewell concert of the same name.[21] He reprised this role for several subsequent appearances at The Capitol Theater inPort Chester, NY.[22]
In 2018, Johnson curated and produced a set atNewport Folk Festival calledBeneath the Sacred Mountain: A Cosmic American Revue with support from The Spacebomb House Band,Phil Cook,Josh Kaufman,Matthew E. White,James Mercer (The Shins),The Watson Twins,Laura Veirs,Hiss Golden Messenger,Bedouine, andLucius.
In 2019, Johnson appeared as part of Newport Folk Festival’sIf I Had a Song covers set, performing Crosby Stills and Nash’s “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” along withRobin Pecknold ofFleet Foxes,James Mercer ofThe Shins, andJudy Collins.[23]
A longtimeDeadhead,[24] Johnson has appeared several times as a guest on severalGrateful Dead related projects. In August 2019 he joinedJoe Russo’s Almost Dead for several songs at Los Angeles’Greek Theatre,[25] he joined JRAD for several songs in July 2021 at theirWestville Music Bowl concert in New Haven, Connecticut.In October 2023, Fruit Bats opened for JRAD, with all members of JRAD backing him, at theFrost Amphitheater on the campus ofStanford University[26] and at Los Angeles’Greek Theatre.[27] He also sat in during the main JRAD set on several songs during both aforementioned concerts.[28][29] Previously, in October 2021, he played three shows with the original bass player of the Grateful Dead,Phil Lesh, at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York as part ofPhil Lesh and Friends.
Johnson has been in a relationship since 2004 withAnnie Beedy, an artist and permaculture landscape designer. They were married in 2011. Johnson describes himself as having a “slightly nomadic childhood and… a nomadic adulthood, too.”[30] A Chicago native, Johnson has lived in Seattle, Portland, and, as of 2017, Los Angeles.
| Year | Organization | Work | Award | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Grammy Awards | Bonny Light Horseman | Best Folk Album | Nominated | [31] |
| 2021 | Grammy Awards | Bonny Light Horseman | Best American Roots Performance | Nominated | |
| 2021 | Libera Awards | Bonny Light Horseman | Best Americana Album | Won | [32] |
Fruit Bats (studio albums)
Fruit Bats (compilations and live albums)
Bonny Light Horseman
EDJ
I, Rowboat
Other appearances
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