Son of John

It’s something you don’t quite hear everyday — the smooth harmony of two voices blending together perfectly, almost as if they were from the same DNA. That’s exactly what you get with Son of John, a father-son country/folk music duo from Nelson, BC.

Originally from Saskatchewan, Johnny P. Johnson has been in the business on and off for over 20 years, writing songs for and fronting two bands in the 90’s called the NerV & Midnight Harvesters, the latter being nominated for British Columbia Country Music Association Group of the Year in 1998. After securing a nomination for BCCMA Album of the Year in 2006 for his first solo project, Prairie Roots Grow Deep, JPJ released his new album Until You Get There in early 2017, produced by 9-time BCCMA producer of the year, Tom McKillip. Johnny was joined by his eldest son, Javan during his live shows — who also played fiddle on the album, and together they’ve toured his album around the Interior of BC and Alberta as a duo, trio and full 6 piece band.

Javan Johnson has had music running through his veins since birth. As a baby he notoriously woke from his crib singing instead of crying. At age 4, he took his first violin lesson. Being classically trained, he’s performed in a professional symphony, played in the pit for live musicals like Beauty and The Beast and Into The Woods, and led a 70 piece orchestra as the concertmaster. He learned how to fiddle after attending several old-time fiddling music camps as a young teenager, learning from the great Gordon Stobbe and JJ Guy. Javan fell in love with country music shortly after and started playing with his dad at 14 — you could say that was the debut of Son of John–in the Summer of 2006 during their first tour together. Now, 10 years later, Javan had once again joined forces with his old man during live shows using his fiddle and vocals to bring his dad’s songs to life with a brand new sound.

While touring Until You Get There, together they discovered they had something magical happening. With Johnny’s lyrics and soulful voice and Javan’s instrumentations and rasp, their sound is truly unique. There’s something about family and blood that can’t be matched. So, Son of John was born as an official duo in 2017. Johnny P. brings his natural vocal talent, creative harmonica and strong rhythm guitar to the pair. His passion for musical storytelling as an avid songwriter is a feature of the Son of John music, writing songs about the simplicities and complexities of life from his experiences and those around him. Javan has been following in his dad’s footsteps, dabbling in songwriting too. As a talented multi-instrumentalist, Javan uses his classical training and gifted ear to feature both fiddle and mandolin in many Son of John songs.

Johnny and Javan are excited for the opportunities that’ll come from making music together. Already with dozens of unreleased original material and live impassioned shows, Son of John is just getting started. The bond that they have, not only as father and son, but as true musicians with raw talent sharing the stage with a sound that only family can create, the future is promising for Son of John.