Desmond Harty & Johan Engström - Masters of Twang!

In my last post I mentioned a guy with Twang named Johan Engström, as well as my early focus on Twang back in '95. I'm going to expand on those two things in this post.

It's late, after midnight. I should be sleeping after a nasty bout & double-knock-out punch these past couple of weeks by "vinterkräksjuka" , as we call it here in Sweden, or in English, winter vomiting disease. It was ugly. Got me twice! I seemed to regain some strength today after doing some Christmas shopping, shoveling a lot of snow, and buying groceries for the coming days. I'll let Twang take over.

First, back to 1995. I was telling you about a program I took that kinda changed my focus in life (insert Twang here). It went something like this:

I went into this Dale Carnegie program thinking human relations, communication, leadership and a more forward-moving life back at the radio station I was working at. But I came out of the program thinking music, music, music. How? Why? Well, one of the ways we developed our communication skills & speaking skills was to communicate things about ourselves - who we are, our defining moments, achievements, mistakes, goals etc. And along about the 4th or 5th session of the program...I recall talking about my music again, and my rather peculiar methodology of learning how to sing & play at the same time. I used one of my favorite old songs by Paul Simon called Slip Slidin' Away...playing on my dad's 30 year old acoustic which I still have today. I practiced by propping a ski pole up between cushions on the sofa, and then trying to play the chords and get a vocal out at the same time! LoL! I was living in a basement suite apartment at the time, and the landlord was above on the next floor. Every time I heard that she was home and moving about, I would crimp up, loose my courage, and stop until I thought she was gone...then continue. Anyway, as I was explaining all this to a group of fellow participants in the program, the instructor, the now late Desmond Harty, interrupted me briefly. It went like this:

Desmond: "Evan, it seems to me that whenever you talk about music, you are on fire inside! Is that true?"

Evan: "Yeah, you could say that..."

Desmond: "You become more enthusiastic about this than most other things you talk about. Do you agree?"

Evan: "Uhh, yeah...?"

Desmond: "Well, why don't you stop talking about it and get off your ass and do something about it!?"

Desmond, as a person, became one of the most important catalysts in my life (I worked with him for a number of years after that...but that's another post). I have had a few people play the catalyst role in my life, but what he hit me with was the the question that changed me most significantly. From that evening I set out on a journey that brought me here (and I'll share some really cool parts and mind blowing experiences to let you know a bit more about me & my own kinda Twang as I blog on...). "Des" as we used to call him, had a lot of Twang, and of the most beautiful sort - a keen insight into people and a relentless dedication to see people achieve their potential. I miss him deeply since his passing February 14, 2007.

Now onto Johan Engström. He is a bit like a bookend, in the sense that he supports the book(s) to stand up properly on the shelf. Here's how I relate to this:

When I stepped into my "vision" on November 4, 2007 of getting onto an aircraft in Nashville with the Master of my first album in hand, I found myself looking straight into nothing but gray & fog in a metaphorical sense. I had no idea what my next step would be (besides packaging & manufacturing 500 copies). Just after Christmas in 2008, I was asked to perform in Trelleborg in conjunction with Musikföreningen Riffet. I contacted Johan and asked if he like country music, and I remember the conversation going something like this (the short version...):

Evan: "Hey, Johan...this is Evan Westerlund. Johan Hallström says you like to play guitar. Do you like country?

Johan: "Yeeaahhh...haha!"

Evan: "Ok, well I just recorded an album in Nashville and I have to get started playing again, and need a guitar player for an acoustic gig in February...you interested?

Johan: "Yeeaahhh...haha-ha!"

Evan: "Alright, do you play any steel?

Johan: "Yeah, I play steel as well..."

Evan: "Can you make me look really good?"

Johan: "Well, yes I can!"

Johan has an amazing attitude, and he has stood by me from the start. He is an outstanding guitar player, a fun guy to co-write songs with, and he has a work ethic & desire to stretch that impresses me. As long as you feed him when he's hungry, he'll be 100% present for whatever the task is. I appreciate him as a friend, and as a professional musician. He's been a great sounding board for me, and we have a lot of fun on the stage together. He's been supporting me with dazzling guitar work (like that bookend does...) the whole time, and his type of dedication inspires me. When he stepped into the studio with the boys in Nashville, he fit right in, as I knew he would. In my books, Johan is Twang. Here's a Hipstamatic pic from the trip featuring Johan and the legendary pedal steel player Robby Turner after a day in the studio:

And by the way, Johan has a brand new Christmas song at his Myspace site. You'll find it here.

That's it for this post. I hope that you enjoy a wonderful Christmas with family & friends! See you on the other side where we'll revisit a couple of young guys name Charlie & Fredrik from Karlsham that have a lot of Twang!

//E