Even if his name isn’t instantly familiar to you, Will Johnson has probably been a part of at least one musical project you’re a fan of. After moving to Denton, Texas, in the early ’90s for college, Johnson formed Centro-matic, which has released numerous records since 1996. In 2002, Johnson, his Centro-matic bandmates and guest musicians started issuing more introspective records under the South San Gabriel moniker; the same year, Johnson released his first solo LP. Since, Johnson has played drums with Monsters Of Folk, toured with the Undertow Orchestra (featuring David Bazan, Mark Eitzel and Vic Chesnutt) and started work on a Woody Guthrie project (with Jay Farrar, Jim James and Anders Parker) in the vein of the Wilco/Billy Bragg Mermaid Avenue albums. Johnson’s latest release is the self-titled debut by Molina And Johnson (on Secretly Canadian), his duo with Jason Molina (Songs: Ohia, Magnolia Electric Co.). As if he wasn’t busy enough already, the Austin-based Johnson will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with him.
Johnson: It takes time with CaseQuarter Records‘ releases (four since 2003), but the label’s transmission of the South’s spiritual and gospel underbelly is a history lesson worth waiting for. There’s a rawness to each record, and it’s hard to ask for a better rhythm section than handclaps and a congregation’s worth of feet stomping a slat floor (guitar-wielding Reverend Charlie Jackson’s God’s Got It). Much of Reverend Isaiah Owens’ stark You Without Sin Cast The First Stone was recorded live from a Montgomery, Ala., AM-radio program (Ann Talbert’s Cheerful Angels), and the Spiritualaires’ Singing Songs Of Praise is an astonishing trip through the quartet’s recordings and broadcasts. The most recent in the catalog is I Got Two Wings: Incidents And Anecdotes Of The Two-Winged Preacher And Electric Guitar Evangelist Elder Utah Smith. This release is CQ’s most involved yet, including a 128-page book alongside an 18-song CD of Smith’s music. Spent a lot of last summer with this record. Still enchanted with this innovative preacher/pioneer’s story and all that made him the unique folk hero he was.
