Victor Johnson
Bio
Victor Johnson is a singer/songwriter based in Bend, Oregon. Johnson has an eclectic style, characterized by unusual chords (colors and textures), strong, engaging vocals, and gorgeous, inspired lyrics, inspired by nature.
Stories (3/0)
Why I Couldn't Listen to Tracy Chapman for Years
#MyWorstDate I met her at an open mic, at the Red Light Cafe, which was virtually my living room. I spent practically all of my time there, either playing my guitar, or listening to others play music. Her name was Jennifer. I had just played my set, which happened to include a song I had written, called "Jennifer." I had written it a few years ago, while living in Winter Park, Florida, attending audio engineering school. I would call prospective students and talk to them about the program. One night, I called a girl named Jennifer, and soon we were engaging in a hours of conversations. So I wrote her a love song, which I played several years later, at an open mic in Atlanta, where another Jennifer (this Jennifer) heard it... and was quite taken by it, and by me. We started dating. I soon learned that she suffered from clinical depression. And this played a big part in the worst date ever, which left me not able to listen to Tracy Chapman, for years.We showed up at a concert in Atlanta—Charlie Hunter Quartet with Tracy Chapman opening. They were supposed to have comp tickets at the door for her, but when we got to the window, they didn't have her name or any record of this. She burst into tears. That started things on a downward spiral. I actually bought two tickets for twenty bucks from someone in the parking lot. She refused to go to the show and began walking off into the hood, into one of the worst parts of town in Atlanta. Being concerned for her safety, I followed her. This she did not like at all, and she let me know as much. Then, as if things couldn't have gotten any worse, it began to rain. I could hear Tracy Chapman singing from a distance, from the concert we should have been at. It began to get dark. Still, I followed her at a distance, as she just blindly walked off in no particular direction. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, we made it back to where the buses were as the concert ended. I rode with her all the way back to Decatur, and even made sure she made it safely home. As we passed Eddie's Attic, she ripped some flowers from pots and threw them at me, not to mention all the lovely verbal comments being directed at me throughout the evening.
By Victor Johnson6 years ago in Humans
'Tell Everyone on This Train I Love Them'
On Saturday, May 27th, I sat in a Portland coffeeshop and read that Gregg Allman had passed away. Then I read that two men had been stabbed to death on a Portland train the night before. One of them was Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche. I didn't know him personally, but I saw that I had over a dozen mutual friends with his mother, Asha Deliverance. As I drove the three hour drive back to Bend over the mountain pass, I thought about Gregg, and of Taliesin and Rick, the two victims who had been stabbed by Jeremy Christian for standing up to the hate and bigotry he was directing towards two teenaged girls, one wearing a hijab.
By Victor Johnson6 years ago in Beat
Sweet December Day
In 2016, I was scheduled to open up for Leon Russell at the Tower Theater in Bend, Oregon in May. When a tour bus broke down, that show was postponed to December 7. When I realized this was the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, I felt compelled to write a song to commemorate this auspicious day, a "day that will live forever in infamy." Only since it happened 28 years before I was born, I knew next to nothing about it.
By Victor Johnson6 years ago in Beat
