How Lucky Can One Guy Be: JOHNNY

Transcription

1 How Lucky Can One Guy Be: A N I N T I M A T E L O O K A T JOHNNY BOYD Editor s Note: When I started putting together this issue, it began to take on a decidedly vintage theme. When I thought about all the artists that could fit into this profile, Johnny Boyd kept coming to mind. As a swing dancer and fan of swing music, I have been following Johnny s career since 1996 when I first heard him sing with Indigo Swing. But, the music of Johnny Boyd and his band has transcended the late 90s swing revival to create a sound that is truly timeless. Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you Mr. Johnny Boyd. 16 AMERICAN GENERATIONS MAGAZINE 17

2 Sing a little song When Johnny Boyd was a little boy of ten years, his mother recognized that he had the gift of song. But knowing her son as well as she did, she knew that she couldn t just encourage him to get involved with music. No, she knew she needed to prod Johnny a little more than once. One day she packed him up in the car and drove, refusing to divulge where they were going. At the last possible moment, she revealed that she was taking him to audition for the Phoenix Boy s Choir. Despite his initial reservations, something resonated with Joh n ny. He auditioned and was accepted, and thus began his musical journey. Johnny revealed the rigorous training that was involved with the Phoenix Boy s Choir. There are three choirs. The first is a training choir, where you simply learn how to sing. You learn how to read music and you learn how to sing with a group. Then you move up to the Town choir, where you perform. This early training gave Johnny the musical discipline he would need to be successful in his musical career, but he acknowledged that it wasn t always easy. Because we rehearsed early every Saturday morning that meant there were no sleepovers on Friday nights like the other kids had. I couldn t, I had to get up early to sing. Even though the choir put a damper on normal childhood fun for the three years he was involved with them, Johnny s love and passion of music was born and continued to grow through his experience with the choir. The Birth of Indigo Swing Then college happened. Johnny put aside his love of music to do what so many of us seek to do during college: to be practical. Although he still harbored a love of swing music, he was definitely influenced by the music of the 1980s, including the Stray Cats, but he still had a love of Elvis, Tony Bennett and Dean Martin. After college San Francisco called to Johnny, and he worked in sales while he lived there. It was his first experience living on his own in metropolitan area and he found that it suited him. Some of my best memories are of my boy s nights out everyone getting all dressed up with their dates and going to see Frank Sinatra perform or tomcatting around town, he recalled. When they weren t out carousing, Johnny and his friends could often be found at the Blue Light Lounge, a Texas-style joint owned by singer and songwriter Boz Scaggs. Photo by: Eric Hooten 18 AMERICAN GENERATIONS MAGAZINE 19

3 Johnny shared with me his personal turning point, of when he realized he couldn t continue in his career in corporate A merica. I was called into a meeting, where one of our executives was talking about his jet and his boats and I remember thinking, I m supposed to want this, said Johnny. But I didn t I didn t want any part of it. I saw what my path could have been if I continued, and I didn t like what I saw. Unlike many of us who see what we don t want and yet continue on, he returned to his first love, music. He started singing again and began writing songs, and, as a self-admitted hopeless romantic, he focused on writing songs that had real meaning behind them instead of just trying to write a catchy tune. Using the skills he learned in business ( Because musicians need to pay their rent, too.) Johnny worked to establish a band of regular musicians, who, once he organized regular gigs, were interested in sticking around. Indigo Swing was formed in 1993 in San Francisco and was comprised of members Josh Workman on guitar, Big Jim Overton on drums, Vance Ehlers on acoustic bass, Baron Shul on saxophone and William Beatty on piano. I knew that touring was what was going to allow us to make a living, so when we first started we took every gig possible, sometimes playing eight in a week. He did most of the booking himself, and then as they began touring they attracted more attention. They first found interest in an agent, who was able to take over the duties of booking and scheduling, and then they attracted the attention of a major record label. In 1998 The Gap khaki commercial brought swing music mainstream, as Lindy Hoppers danced and flew through the air to Brian Setzer s version of Jump, Jive, and Wail. Swing music became popular again, and Indigo Swing headed to the studios to record the music that they had been writing and playing live for years. Indigo Swing s first album, the self-titled Indigo Swing was released in 1998, followed by my personal favorite All Aboard!, and then Red Light! in Indigo Swing toured extensively, criss-crossing the globe as the swing music picked up steam, spending the majority of the year playing to packed audiences in North A merica and Europe. The tour schedule of Indigo Swing continued almost non-stop for three years. The end of Indigo Swing in 2000 was caused not by any one particular event, although Joh n ny acknowledged that their tour schedule took a toll on the band. We would spend 300 days a year out on the road. After awhile that begins to take a toll on your personal life. There was no drama, no major blowup; in fact, Johnny still writes, plays and records with Indigo Swing s former band members. During their time together, Johnny Boyd and Indigo Swing recorded over 45 songs together, 20 AMERICAN GENERATIONS MAGAZINE 21

4 including 31 originals written by Johnny and the band. It was an amazing time for Johnny and the members of Indigo Swing, and it was simply time for them all to move on to other projects. Indigo Swing is like looking at photographs of my life. You just have to trust that when a project ends there will be brighter photographs down the road. Of course, no one achieves any level of success alone. Johnny credits his wife, Angela, as being the brains behind him as well as the love of his life. Listening to his tribute to Angela in Angie s Song (Baby, Don t You Know?), found on the album Last Word In, one can only hope that they experience a love like what exists between Angie and Johnny: And, baby don t you know? That I ll be here when you come home For if you ever need for me to stay And baby can t you see? You can rest your head on me And I ll slay all the dragons today. Johnny is known for penning insightful lyrics that mean more than just being catchy. He explained that the song he wrote with Indigo Swing, How Lucky Can One Guy Be? came from his time in San Francisco. Here I was, living in San Francisco, in a town that I loved, and I was getting to do what I loved. I felt like the luckiest guy in the whole world. Many people also credit his songs as being the soundtrack to their lives. I hear from people all the time who tell me I met my wife dancing to your song and that became the song at our wedding. I love that I can be a part of so many people s lives and that I can say that I wrote something that meant something. For him, songwriting is a creative process that, much like any other creative process, can be compared to the age old question of the chicken and the egg. Sometimes the song lyrics come first and then Johnny starts a melody with it, and sometimes the tune presents itself before the lyrics. Once he tinkers out his idea on the piano, he ll work with other musicians to flush out the song. NEVER BEEN Blue The question that every swing dancer wanted the answer to was Where have you been? We ve missed you on the dance scene! I m thrilled to an nounce that Johnny has been hard at work on his latest album that will be released in the late first quarter or early second quarter of 2010 called Never Been Blue. Never Been Blue gave Johnny the opportunity to stretch himself musically and creatively and he was heavily involved in all aspects of the making of the album. He wore many hats, including editing and producing most of of the tracks 22 AMERICAN GENERATIONS MAGAZINE 23

5 that appear on the final cut. By the end of this album I had a Master s Degree in music production, he said laughing. Never Been Blue expands on Johnny s love of swing music and a good tune, and yet has let him explore some other musical genres other than swing. Never Been Blue has songs that range from traditional swing to swing/conga and even a waltz, ensuring that swing dancers and music enthusiasts alike will be enjoying his work. I am also pleased to report that Johnny will be returning to touring again to debut his Never Been Blue album. He s in the process of scheduling tours right now, but check for upcoming tour dates on his website at Johnny s as excited to return to live performance as we are to have him back: I miss performing. I miss having a band and having a rehearsal room where we could just go and try things on the fly and get immediate feedback. I m really looking forward to being on stage again, and I m excited about touring for this album. Johnny, that s sweet music to our ears. TIE HIM UP, TIE HIM DOWN Johnny began collecting vintage ties from the 1940s while touring the world with Indigo Swing. Indigo Swing always performed in vintage attire, and having an assortment of ties became a necessity. But that s just the start with over 10,000 ties in his collection now, his passion for vintage neckwear has grown into an obsession. When I asked him why he stared collecting ties he responded with the very practical, Well, they re one-size fits all and I could carry them in my luggage. Besides, as guys we don t have a lot of options for suits, so having a unique tie changes up your outfit. While Johnny has affection for vintage dress, his fashion philosophy is decidedly unique. Rather than conform yourself to a particular fashion, like vintage, you should fold it into your life so that it conforms to you. Johnny s tie collection is full of one of a kind ties that fit his fashion sense and personality so that his version of vintage is uniquely his own. Because of the size of his collection he has a coffee table book in the works that will feature some of his favorite and most unique ties. Like everything that he does, Johnny dives in head first, planning on taking some of the photographs himself. It will be another project that will be years in the making, but I m having fun with it. 24 AMERICAN GENERATIONS MAGAZINE 25