Soulful music that reflects American roots will fill Acacia Park this weekend, when local singer/songwriter Joe Johnson performs as part of the park’s Summer Concert Series.

Blank Tape’s co-founder and co-owner, Inaiah Lujan, was a fan of Johnson from the moment he first heard him sing. Johnson is one of a handful of artists represented by the Southern Colorado-based indie label.

“Joe is the real deal, a true American songwriter,” says Lujan. He has the ability to “sing a simple song that delivers a powerful story. I really believe in the songs Joe writes and sings.”

The 34-year-old plays a lonesome country/folk style that’s deeply tied in his southern Mississippi heritage. In 2011, Johnson released his first album, “A Time to Dance,” on Blank Tape Records.The Gazette had a chance to speak at length with Johnson and discussed, among other things, his musical beginnings, his experiences with Blank Tape Records and his hopes for the future.The Gazette: How did you get into music?Joe Johnson: Well, I was born into it. My family has been making music for generations. Growing up, every holiday and family gathering involved a piano and gospel-singing session, which really shaped my deep love for music. Both of my grandpas were DJs and influential in the growth of radio in Mississippi, while my grandma, Ila Magdelene, was the greatest gospel piano player that ever lived. Papa B.J. Johnson was a performer and songwriter in the 1950s, when country music was a budding art form on the popular front. I’ve always been in and around music, and its been important to me since a very early age.Gazette: What inspired you to start writing?Johnson: Songwriting is something I have done since childhood. I was a dreamer, and always just enjoyed making stories. It was at age seven or eight that I told my mom I was going to be a musician when I grew up. My seven-year-old son now says the same thing to me. I began to mess around with songwriting as a teen, and my first song was actually a gospel tune. But it wasn’t until my early 20s, when B.J. died, that I got serious about the art of it. I was dealing with loss, kind of spinning around in circles, and I began to find comfort in writing emotions down along with music.Gazette: How would you describe your sound?Johnson: I envision my sound like rocking in an old squeaky rocker on a wood porch while watching a thunderstorm roll in. It’s lonesome and comforting at the same time, for me at least. It’s also an honest sound. When you hear my album, “A Time to Dance,” you notice that it’s perfect in its imperfections. It was done in my house on reel tape and recorded live, so you hear a very warm and classic sound and real emotional performances. That’s the sound on my album, and that’s my live sound.Gazette: What’s it like being signed to a small, indie label? Does it hamper your touring efforts, or help them?Johnson: Being on Blank Tape Records has been a great experience, and they have served as a driving force to what I want to do. It’s a personal organization and there is nothing but honesty in all their dealings with me, which has been a problem for me with past deals. If anything, I am my biggest impediment to touring more often. I enjoy playing for folks immensely, but I’m also a relatively reclusive person. Not to mention the fact that I am the proud father of two amazing kids, so I like to stay close to home. I’d have to say that the gentle prodding from BTR helps me tour more than I would on my own, and they let me be my reclusive self when I need it. I doubt that kind of understanding would be found at a major label.Gazette: Who do you see as your biggest influences, musically or otherwise?Johnson: That’s always a tough question, because my influences are very broad and reflect most genres of music. The obvious family influences aside, I can say that my biggest include Ray Charles (whose music I have loved since childhood), Bill Withers, Sam Cooke, Johnny Cash, etc. But I also love lots of my generation’s music. Will Oldham is an exceptional song smith, Nirvana changed my perception as a teen and Sonic Youth is in my tape deck right now. I can never forget hearing Townes Van Zandt for the first time. That guy changed the game for me as a writer, because he made poetry into country music.Gazette: You grew up in Mississippi, right? Do you see Mississippi in your music? If so, where?Johnson: As a southerner far removed from home, I can assure you that the south itself stands as my greatest inspiration and influence. The people, the land – it’s all special to me and it permeates through my music and my life in undeniable ways. I draw great energy and inspiration from these mountains and the people and heritage here in the West, but it all has a real strong Mississippi accent to it.Gazette: We’re curious about your opinion of the jazz scene. It seems like there are fewer and fewer jazz headliners out there. What’s your assessment of the health of the form?Johnson: Curious. No one has asked me that before, and I love the music. My jazz preference is the older stuff, you know. Give me Bird’s sax any day of the week and Miles twice on Sunday. I’m not as well versed in modern stuff. I will say jazz is alive and interesting all over. Overall, I don’t know where it’s heading, but I hope it’s headed up because jazz is true American (and southern) music.Gazette: You released your first album last year. So, what’s the dream now?Johnson: My dreams are modest, for sure. I just want to find an old pickup truck that runs and I’m all set. Really though, I feel a great satisfaction with this record. I am happy with the current progression my career has experienced, and my family is hanging in there with me. So, you could say my dreams have come true already and I probably shouldn’t get greedy. I do have a batch of new tunes I’m going to be putting down soon in a new studio operated by Blank Tape. That is very exciting, because I’m going to feature more outstanding musicians from this area.Gazette: What was your first big success and how did it change things for you?Johnson: I’ll let you know as soon as I have my first big success. No wait – you’re writing about me, so there’s one! Actually, it sounds cliché, but my first big success was getting out of my living room and playing a gig. It was a late-night gig at a little coffee shop in downtown Hattiesburg, Miss. It was trial by fire, because I had never done it before and these folks were coming in drunk and pumped from some great show, so I had to bring it. I have definitely felt success since then, but none of that would have happened if my roommate and some fellow songwriters hadn’t have made me get that gig.Gazette: What are you listening to these days?Johnson: You know, I have really been hearing a ton of good new stuff lately. I dig the new Springsteen album for sure, as well as the Black Keys’ “Brothers.” There has been some terrific music coming out locally that I am excited about, namely this Grant Sabin/Briffaut/Flumps conglomeration going on downtown (June 22), and the new albums from Broken Soke and my label mates The Haunted Windchimes. I’m pumped on Jason Miller. His new album and awesome band are going to make some noise for sure. I truly feel our local scene is so thick with great music that it’s easy to ignore the national stuff. All those bands (I just) praised, and I’m leaving out dozens.Gazette: Your songs feel so personal. Johnson: Yes, they are all very personal, though not always overtly so. A song like “A Time to Dance” is straight truth in self-evaluation. I chose a particular event from my life, a series of questionable decisions that left me sleeping on the streets in New Orleans, and wrote it as it happened. The song is about celebrating my losses. We are defined by our character, which comes mostly from the times we fail and the things we learn from getting up. There’s a time to fight and a time to dance, but never a time to give up.

Joe Johnson Photo by