Fletcher C Johnson
After years of making bedroom recordings in Vermont and Boston, Vermont native Fletcher C Johnson moved to Brooklyn in 2004 and began playing rowdy folk shows under the name Poor Boy Johnson. In 2006 Fletcher joined country-rock band The Weight on lead guitar, while simultaneously crafting songs with his new guitar-pop outfit the Midnight Prayers. The Prayers self-released two EPs and soon found themselves touring as the backing band for Fletcher’s childhood friend King Tuff.
In 2009 Fletcher began recording an album that combined his earlier folk stylings with his new guitar-pop sound. It Rained Something Wicked was self-released in 2010 and Fletcher, accompanied by drummer Tom O’Brien, began rigorously touring the United States. After two years on the road, Todd Martin joined on bass and the group began working on their sophomore album, Salutations, released on Burger Records in 2013.
Fletcher began recording his third album, Lesson in Tenderness, in Fullerton California, working in a rented practice space next to Burger Records, living in his van and crashing on couches. In 2018 the rhythm section of The Weight rejoined Fletcher in the studio to help him record his fourth album, a return to his earlier country-folk sound. Are You Feelin’ It will be released October 14, 2019.
Are You Feelin’ It leaves behind the electric instruments in favor of acoustic guitars, harmonicas, and piano. Gone are the synths and surf riffs that dominated his last single, “Wilder Than Me,” but his pop sensibilities remain. The choruses on Are You Feelin’ It are more sing-along-friendly than ever.
“I picked up the acoustic guitar and catchy riffs just kept coming to me.”
Fletcher creates country-folk that grabs you with infectious guitar riffs while washing your troubles away in vocal harmonies. His music finds a balance between mellow and gleeful that is rarely achieved.
“I wanted to have my fun without worrying about distortion. American Beauty and the Village Green Preservation Society can get me on my feet using only acoustic instruments. I wanted to capture that feeling.”
As a supplement to the new album, Fletcher C Johnson has created a podcast, Listening To Fletcher C Johnson, which is a storytelling podcast about the lows and highs of being a musician.
Each episode premieres a song from Fletcher’s upcoming album, Are You Feelin’ It, while divulging tales of addiction, homelessness, songcraft, love, and violence.
“My songs have always been straight forward stories from my life but, if you didn’t know me, I suppose they’re just music. Don’t know what came over me but, with the pod, speaking directly into your ear, I just let it fly. ‘Mask off’ as they say.”
In the premiere episode, which aired on September 2, 2019, Fletcher explains how the stress of touring led to an addiction to Xanax, and how the song “Shining Light” was born out of benzodiazepine withdrawal.
