Story by Camryn Teder
Photos provided by Jacob Johnson
One of the more underrated offerings of our area is the local music scene. There are just so many different things to hear, from thrashing punk shows in empty garages to jazz sessions at popular spots like Underground Coffee. While plenty of local fans flock to venues like the Radio Room or Swanson’s Warehouse to support those local sounds, not many people know more about what the local music community offers than guitar virtuoso and longtime resident Jacob Johnson. “There’s a lot of great music here. I hosted an open mic here in Travelers Rest for about 10 years…I still go out and hit open mics just to be around,” Johnson said. “It’s exciting to go and check it out and be around the creative energy.”
When he’s not scoping out the local music scene, Johnson is probably out making music of his own. In October, he released his third studio album Surviving The Dream. The collection of new recordings and previously released singles features his signature quick-thinking guitar playing, and the songs he wrote while touring came to form the basis for the album.
The project features satirical stories of run-down motels in the South like “The Sketchiest Motel in Fayetteville”, a homage to the live shows he’s played over the years in “The Goodnight Chorus”, and even has famous harmonica player Mickey Raphael featured in one especially beloved track “Jessica”. “That was a big bucket list thing for me. He’s just part of Willie [Nelson]’s sound, and I just felt like I’d have some of Willie’s mojo living there on a track with him,” Johnson said.
Throughout the album, Johnson also dubs himself an “old soul.” From cranking up his gramophone, rifling through classic jazz standards, and collecting records that once belonged to greats like Sammy Davis Jr., Johnson wanted to pay his respects to things he says come from a “more thoughtful” time in this record too. “It’s nice to remember the hours of life and dedication it took people to get good at their craft and entertain people. To just show gratitude a little bit,” he said.
Beyond his personal love for the stuff of eras past, Johnson also explores more abstract themes in the album such as lonesomeness. Since he wrote many of these songs while traveling alone, it was a feeling he had become quite familiar with. “In a weird way, I feel more connection to stand-up comedy than music because most musicians are traveling in a band or an ensemble. But for a stand-up, or me, I just show up at the gig. It’s just me. There’s no managers, no other people around. It’s just me at the hotel. So there’s a lot of ups and downs,” he said.
Finally, there’s the main theme that runs throughout the entirety of the album: how to chase your dreams and survive them. On that topic, Johnson has some experience and some important lessons he’s learned. “Remember why you’re doing what you’re doing. Are you doing it for selfish reasons or for selfless reasons? All the selfish stuff goes away. We’re all gonna be forgotten after we die, so it’s a waste of time to focus on ego or building up something for yourself … but even if it is forgotten, it does make a difference while we’re here,” he said.
To Johnson, success is no longer about arbitrary things like fame or even success itself, but about leaving the world a better place than he found it. As he says, finding out what it is that drives you is the key to surviving your dreams. “It’s important to remember that if you don’t know what it means to be successful to yourself, and you focus on what somebody else’s version of success is, you can really go down the wrong path and waste a lot of time,” he said. “I guess that’s my advice for surviving the dream is understanding what your version of success is and focusing on that, and then doing that the best way you know how.”
How Johnson Made his Musical Dreams a Reality
New record aside, Johnson has been one of the most underrated roots performers and guitarists in the area for a long time. He’s garnered critical acclaim through recognitions like winning the Don Gibson Songwriter Award Grand Prize, Nashville Connection Songwriter of the Year, and becoming a finalist for the Freshgrass No Depression Songwriter Award. He’s also shared the stage with Grammy winners like Tommy Emmanuel, Victor Wooten, and so many more legends.
So, how did he get here? Growing up, Johnson was always entranced by any sighting of a guitar. From the Darling family’s cameos on The Andy Griffith Show, Roy Clark’s guitar-picking on Hee Haw, and strumming his favorite toy: a fake guitar. “When I got where I was old enough that I’d be able to learn it [guitar], I thought, well, I should learn how to play this. It didn’t seem like something new. It seemed like something I’d been obsessed with my whole life, and now I was finally gonna sit down and learn the darn thing,” he said. And learn the darn thing he did. His grandmother, who played with pickup bands in the 40s, taught him his first few chords. From then on, his dedication to the instrument became insatiable. “I didn’t do anything but play guitar for about the next 20 years.”
While Johnson has spent plenty of time on the road during the past two decades, he admits that he always loves coming back home to the Upstate. From playing with local favorites like The Foreign Landers and Charles Hedgepath, teaching guitar at North Greenville University, finishing up his final semester of online school at Berklee, and biking around town, he’s certainly got a lot on his plate. But especially after marrying his wife in 2019, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“A lot of years when I was traveling, I didn’t really have anything to come back to, and that was part of what was sad about it. Not sad, but just, what Kris Kristofferson might call lonesome. But once I got married and got a little bit more planted, I think it got a little bit harder to leave,” Johnson said.
Still, while he loves where he is, Johnson says there isn’t anything he would rather be doing than traveling around doing what he does best: playing his guitar. “I belong out there too. I belong performing and entertaining people.”
To hear one of Johnson’s energetic live shows for yourself, head to his website for his events calendar.
Find Jacob Johnson on Facebook and Instagram and YouTube.
Hear Jacob Johnson on the We Are TR podcast.
