JOHNNY SMITH
Singer -- Songwriter -- Guitarist -- Bandleader
For Johnny Smith singing has always been a passion. A songwriter and self taught musician, Smith began playing guitar at the age of 9. Despite being born and raised in Southern Califor [+]JOHNNY SMITH
Singer -- Songwriter -- Guitarist -- Bandleader
For Johnny Smith singing has always been a passion. A songwriter and self taught musician, Smith began playing guitar at the age of 9. Despite being born and raised in Southern California, Smith’s family relocated to rural Missouri for a couple of years. It was 1973 and was then and there, he heard Elvis sing “Hound Dog” on “Aloha from Hawaii” via satellite, on the family’s one channel TV.
His mother bought him a guitar chord book, to which Smith caught on quickly, learning to play by ear and mimic the artists he listened to, which inspired him to write his own original music. Smith’s mother was so taken by his ability that she drove thirty miles to Colonel Buck Cody’s Jamboree in Marceline and waited patiently to convince the Colonel to allow Johnny to sing one song before the end of the night. When he stepped onto the stage, he told the band he wanted to sing “Hound Dog.” Seeing one of the guitar players ready to start in “C” he promptly, in a commanding voice shouted, “In the key of D!” His charismatic stage presence and mastery of the song led him to be invited to play every weekend all summer long.
Shortly thereafter the Smith family relocated back to Ventura California. Johnny’s early musical influences were Bob Dylan, Super Tramp, Tom Petty and John Denver who
all created magic with wonderful words, melodic ballads or rock guitar. At age 12, during a trip to Las Vegas, Johnny’s guitar was left in the trunk of the family car where it warped from the heat. However, so consummate was he about music he continued to play the mangled instrument. His mother took him to a music store and bought him a Martin D-35, which he continues to play today. Smith played for his family and school talent shows as well as competing in the Horace Heidt Jr. and the Musical Knights Talent Contest at the Top of the Harbor in Ventura where he won the semi final competition.
His high school years took him briefly away from this music as his interests turned to working as a carpenter, cars and the military. He enlisted in the Marines right out of High School where he re-ignited his love for music while stationed in Okinawa. He bought a guitar for $100 and wrote 12 songs that year at the age of 19.
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