Biography
Johnson was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, of Ukrainian descent. He grew up in Medicine Hat, Alberta, and Windsor, Ontario, where he frequently crossed the river to play in Detroit, Michigan. He is a vocalist and guitarist for the reggae-rock band Big Sugar and the cowboy metal band Grady, where he now uses his nickname "Grady" Johnson. Johnson is also known for wearing Hugo Boss clothing, as part of a long-term sponsorship deal with the designer.
Johnson is a producer having done albums for other artists, including Gov't Mule, Taj Mahal, The Trews, The Joel Plaskett Emergency, Wide Mouth Mason, The Respectables, Reel Big Fish, Tim Chaisson & Morning Fold, Meredith Shaw and Chris Kirby among others. He is also the songwriter/ cowriter of numerous hit songs in many genres.
Splitting his time between Alberta and Texas, Johnson is a proud Canadian, evident in his version of the Canadian national anthem "O Canada" and frequent discussions/interviews over the years. More recently the Texas influence can be heard through his songwriting for Grady. He stays very busy either playing live or working in the studio. Summer 2010 will see him playing his first instrument- the bass- with his friends in Wide Mouth Mason as part of the ZZ Top tour. In March 2011, it was announced that Johnson would be joining Wide Mouth Mason fulltime as bassist. Johnson reformed Big Sugar in 2010 for some concert dates. The band released their new studio album Revolution Per Minute in 2011.
Read more about this topic: Gordie Johnson
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