Artist description Phil & Gaye Johnson have lived the country music tradition. Their sound includes almost all aspects of American acoustic music. With over twenty years of dedicated artistry Phil & Gaye Johnson represent the very best of the new tradition in today's "Americana" Country Music.

Music Style Traditional / Contemporary Southern Appalachian Folk

Musical Influences Carter Family - Jimmie Rodgers - Bob Wills - Merle Haggard

Similar Artists Emmylou Harris - Louvins - Kitty Wells

Artist History Gaye, a native of Green Creek in the foothills of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, grew up singing and playing music with her family and friends. Phil, on the other side of the country, discovered the roots of Country Music as a youth in Southern California. Phil & Gaye came together by accident backstage at play at Santa Monica College during the Fall of 1969. In 1972 the pair moved back East, got married, and settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where they initiated a live two hour radio program broadcast weekly over WMRA-FM and, completed a 13 episode Bluegrass program for Virginia Public Television entitled Phil’s Ole’ Time Pickin’ Junction. Later re-broadcast in several Southeastern states, it spawned a sequel Phil & Gaye’s Song Swap Shop in 1977. In 1980 Phil & Gaye created and produced a weekly live radio program entitled Cornbread & Sweetmilk Time for commercial Country Music stations In North and South Carolina and released their first album Cornbread & Sweetmilk.(CRC/Park Street 43632) the program continued until 1983. By that time they had made their first of four appearances on The Nashville Network’s Fire on the Mountain television series, as well as numerous appearances on public radio’s A Prairie Home Companion. Their experience in radio combined with their eclectic style, incorporating everything from traditional Country Music to Western Swing, Bluegrass, and Country-Rock, performed by Gaye on lead vocals and guitar, and Phil on guitar, mandolin, resonator guitar and harmonica made them the perfect choice to host the premier Bluegrass/Country Music radio program The Liberty Flyer. Broadcast in 1984 and 1985 throughout the United States and around the world via The Armed Forces Radio Network, The Liberty Flyer gave Phil & Gaye a chance to showcase Gaye’s extraordinary mountain alto and Phil’s classic songwriting. Since then, Phil & Gaye have appeared on a number of television and radio programs and have released five recordings on the ASTER label. They continue to travel across the South giving over 100 concerts per year. In addition Phil has recorded a series of SongTelling ™ tapes as well as several guitar instructional manuals. They are currently the hosts of “The KingPup Radio Hour - Small Time Opry”America’s premier “roots music” program available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.radioyur.com

Group Members Phil Johnson - guitar, mandolin, slide resonator guitar,harmonica, vocals Gaye Johnson - guitar, vocals

Instruments guitar, resonator guitar,mandolin,harmonica

Albums Phil & Gaye Johnson "Live" - The Lost Broadcast - Mountain Flower - Folksongs from The American Songbag

Press Reviews Phil & Gaye Johnson Live! (Aster 2001/2002) A double length compilation of live recordings made when Phil & Gaye Johnson hosted the syndicated radio program, “The Liberty Flyer”, in the 1980’s, this is a delight full country-bluegrass cornucopia. Gaye’s clear, soaring vocals are at their finest on the delightful, “Blues for Dixie” and the gentle, “Love is Like a Mountain Flower” one of the six songs written by Phil. Unlike some live recordings, production values are high by virtue of being for broadcast. (Dirty Linen

Additional Info BOOKS by Phil Johnson - Teaching the Folk Guitar, Learning the Folk Guitar, The Folksong Wordbook VIDEO by Phil Johnson - Slide Guitar as a Second Language

Location Tryon, North Carolina - USA

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