Rising Stars: Meet Alex Johnson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Johnson.

Hi Alex, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I grew up outside of Chicago and have always loved music, gravitating towards the drums after some terrible guitar lessons early on. My folks noticed I was always drumming along to whatever was on the radio and signed me up for drums in the 5th-grade school band. It just kept going from there– forming bands in high school with friends, jamming at parties, and when I went off to college in Colorado, for architecture actually, I really only cared about bringing a drum set along.

I was eventually playing so much music when I graduated in 2010, it was the recession, and architecture jobs were super hard to land, so I hit the road with my band, and fast forward, that band is long gone, but I’m still playing drums full-time, touring with several artists and playing around locally. Aside from touring, I also record and engineer, which was a passion that came along later.

After being on so many sessions as a player, I realized I should probably learn how to do this myself and got a rudimentary studio space going back to Denver several years ago. I began doing remote drum sessions; recording myself and then sending the files to the artists online, to now recording and mixing full bands in my studio here in Nashville. It’s grown into quite a large aspect of my career now, which I love.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There are endless ups and downs as a freelance creative professional, and it comes with significant hurdles to keep this lifestyle and career going, but I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I guess most recently, and probably the largest obstacle of my career, but the best was uprooting my wife and my life in Denver to finally move to Nashville in 2022.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a professional drummer and audio engineer, and I’m hired by artists, bands, and producers to tour or record with them. I primarily work in the American/rock/country realms, and tour with Whitey Morgan, Vince Herman, and Drunken Hearts recently.

I’ve also performed with Billy Strings, members of Widespread Panic, Reckless Kelly, Greensky Bluegrass, and Railroad Earth among others. I also operate a full-service studio, Wise Acre Recording Studio, here in East Nashville, where I engineer sessions and mix recordings when I’m not on the road.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I’d say a fair amount of ‘right place, right time’ and preparedness comes into play in the music industry, and it’s primarily been for the better so far, which is nice. That’s not to say that things have just fallen into my lap, as a large amount of hard work is required, as with most things that are worth pursuing. I’m very grateful for the opportunities I’ve had, for the great music I’ve been able to perform and record so far, and for the people I meet and work with.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wiseacrestudio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexjohnsondrums/

Image Credits
Jessie Addleman