Biography

This 11 track release contains holiday favorites ranging from traditional tunes such as “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” to modern classics like “The Christmas Song”. A stand-out track is “Silver Bells”, which features banjo virtuoso Charles Woods, a 3-time national banjo champion who has appeared on The David Letterman Show with Earl Scruggs and Steve Martin, trading licks with Johnson. This album is sure to please kids from one to ninety-two with its inventive acoustic arrangements and heartfelt vocals.

From Jacob:
"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..."

According to co-writer and jazz legend Mel Torme, these words were penned on a spiral notebook on the hottest day of the year in July. Why write a Christmas song in July? The same reason I recorded a Christmas album in August.

To try and keep cool.

This is a collection of Christmas songs I've arranged and recorded over the past few years. This CD isn't perfect, but that's okay because I'm not a perfect musician. These songs, however, are about as close to perfect as songs can get. They're sacred. Meaningful. Nostalgic. The lyrics share the Good News with generation after generation of lonely star-gazers, and the melodies hang on your ear like a garland. I hope you enjoy listening to these songs as much as I enjoy playing them, and after Christmas comes and goes this year, I won't judge you if you pop this disc into your car stereo on a hot day in the middle of July. Gotta keep cool.
---------------------------------------

"Johnson sounds like Norman Rockwell paintings and the open road. He is a virtuoso, expressing a working comprehension of dozens of techniques and styles. He has blended and blurred the lines of genres to craft a sound he calls 'Neo-Acoustic Folk/Funk' " - The Florence Morning News (Florence, SC)