Orville Johnson

Biography

Orville Johnson is an American resonator guitar player born in 1953 in Edwardsville, Illinois, United States. He came up in the St. Louis, Missouri music scene. A frequent session musician, he also has released a number of solo and group albums. He has appeared on the radio show A Prairie Home Companion and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on television.
Johnson made his film debut in Georgia, appearing as a musician.
He is a singer, instrumentalist, record producer, songwriter, session player, and teacher. As his entry in the Encyclopedia of Northwest Music (Sasquatch Press, 1999) states, he has become a vital figure on the Northwest music scene. He has appeared on over 400 albums, movie and video soundtracks, and commercials, produced 22 albums for other musicians, and hosted a roots music radio show.
Johnson has taught at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop as well as the International Guitar Seminar, Port Townsend Blues Workshop, Euro-Blues Workshop, and B.C. Bluegrass Workshop.

Albums

Music by A Country Band (1973)
The World According to Orville (1990)
Orville Johnson and Scott Weiskopf (1993)
Kings of Mongrel Folk (1997) with Mark Graham
Blueprint for the Blues (1998)
Slide & Joy (1999)
Freehand (2003)
Still Goin' Strong (2004) with Mark Graham
Together in Las Vegas (2005) with John Cephas and Woody Mann
Deceiving Blues (2006) with John Miller and Grant Dermody
The Sweeter the Juice (2009) with Laura Love
Southern Filibuster: A Tribute to Tut Taylor (2010) produced by Jerry Douglas
"We Heard the Voice of a Pork Chop" (2012) as Johnson, Miller & Dermody
"Bitter Truth" (2013) as The Kings of Mongrel Folk

Instructional

Intro To Lead Guitar (DVD)
Resophonic Guitar for Beginners, Vols. 1&2 (DVDs)
Tips, Tricks, and Techniques for Dobro, Vols. 1&2 (DVDs)
Getting Started in Open D Tuning (DVD)
Getting Started with Bottleneck Slide Guitar (DVD)