Biography
Jeremiah Johnson merged the St. Louis regional blues idiom with gritty Southern rock and country accents after sharpening his skills on the Gulf Coast blues circuit, then headed back to Missouri for a thriving run that began in the 2010s. Independent releases paved the way to a deal with German blues imprint Ruf Records, which issued 2018’s Straitjacket and the 2020 chart-topper Heaven to Betsy before Johnson resurfaced in 2022 with Hi-Fi Drive By.
His father chose the name after the title figure in the 1972 Robert Redford western; Johnson started performing early, pursued jazz studies at college, and later joined several rock groups. While living along the Texas Gulf Coast he gravitated toward blues, capturing first place in the Houston Blues Society Regional Blues Challenge three straight years during the mid-2000s. By decade’s end he had resettled in St. Louis and assembled the Jeremiah Johnson Band, folding electric blues, the city’s indigenous sound, rock energy, jazz, and country into a single approach. The Jeremiah Johnson Band supported that mix on two self-released outings, 9th & Russell (2010) and Brand Spank’n Blue (2011), with regional horn section the Sliders. Australian filmmaker Gary Glenn spotlighted Johnson in the 2014 documentary Ride the Blues, which paired concert footage with career-spanning interviews and cleared the path for the 2015 solo album Grind. Produced by Devon Allman, son of guitar legend Gregg Allman, Grind earned substantial airplay and reached number eight on Billboard’s Blues chart. The 2016 follow-up Blues Heart Attack, again credited to the full band, climbed to number five on the same tally and displayed an even broader stylistic range. Johnson joined Ruf Records in 2018, enlisted fellow St. Louis bluesman Mike Zito as collaborator for Straitjacket, and toured Europe the next year.
Heaven to Betsy delivered a career summit in early 2020 by topping the Billboard Blues chart. When the ensuing European support dates were scrapped amid the global pandemic, Johnson returned to the studio and completed the stripped-down Unemployed Highly Annoyed, issued that October. Hi-Fi Drive By sustained the sequence of strong releases in 2022 and included pianist Victor Wainwright plus harmonica player Brandon Santini among its guests.
His father chose the name after the title figure in the 1972 Robert Redford western; Johnson started performing early, pursued jazz studies at college, and later joined several rock groups. While living along the Texas Gulf Coast he gravitated toward blues, capturing first place in the Houston Blues Society Regional Blues Challenge three straight years during the mid-2000s. By decade’s end he had resettled in St. Louis and assembled the Jeremiah Johnson Band, folding electric blues, the city’s indigenous sound, rock energy, jazz, and country into a single approach. The Jeremiah Johnson Band supported that mix on two self-released outings, 9th & Russell (2010) and Brand Spank’n Blue (2011), with regional horn section the Sliders. Australian filmmaker Gary Glenn spotlighted Johnson in the 2014 documentary Ride the Blues, which paired concert footage with career-spanning interviews and cleared the path for the 2015 solo album Grind. Produced by Devon Allman, son of guitar legend Gregg Allman, Grind earned substantial airplay and reached number eight on Billboard’s Blues chart. The 2016 follow-up Blues Heart Attack, again credited to the full band, climbed to number five on the same tally and displayed an even broader stylistic range. Johnson joined Ruf Records in 2018, enlisted fellow St. Louis bluesman Mike Zito as collaborator for Straitjacket, and toured Europe the next year.
Heaven to Betsy delivered a career summit in early 2020 by topping the Billboard Blues chart. When the ensuing European support dates were scrapped amid the global pandemic, Johnson returned to the studio and completed the stripped-down Unemployed Highly Annoyed, issued that October. Hi-Fi Drive By sustained the sequence of strong releases in 2022 and included pianist Victor Wainwright plus harmonica player Brandon Santini among its guests.
Albums
Losing My Way
2025
Dear Mama
2025
Live in New England
2024
Stasis
2019
Blues Heart Attack
2016
Humming of the Axis
2016
Homeland
2015
Grind
2014
Postcards
2012
Brand Spank'n Blue
2011
Singles
Live
