Michael Johnson, the singer, song-writer, storyteller, and guitarist who has delighted audiences at Gustavus Adolphus College annually for forty years, will return to Bjorling Recital Hall for a 40th Anniversary Concert Celebration at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12. This performance on the Gustavus campus is one of only two performances the national recording artist will present in Minnesota this season.
Johnson, originally from the Minneapolis area and now living in Nashville, Tenn., first performed at Gustavus in April 1968 with the late John Denver as part of the trio of Denver, Boise, and Johnson. Following his departure from the trio one year later, Johnson spent a year acting with an off-Broadway company and returned to Minnesota and to singing. Since that time, he has studied and toured internationally eight times and has recorded eleven albums, which include ten hit singles and two #1 country songs of the year. Even those who don’t know his name will recognize his hits: Bluer Than Blue, Give Me Wings, Ponies, and Rooty Toot Toot for the Moon.
When asked what he would want you to know about him, Michael Johnson replies, “Tell them I play guitar and that I am a soloist at heart.” He prefers the intimacy and spontaneity of solo performance, especially in a concert hall like Gustavus’ Bjorling Recital Hall, where acoustics and closeness to the audience allow Michael Johnson the showman to shine. “I love to talk to people and I love to make them laugh. And of course, I love to move them with my music. Without that, there is no reason to be on stage.”
Tickets are still available for Johnson’s annual winter concert at Gustavus. Tickets are $20.00 for adults and $15.00 for students, senior citizens & GA staff. For ticket purchases, please call the Gustavus Ticket Center at (507) 933-7590 or go on-line at www.gustavus.edu/events/artistseries/. Any tickets remaining will go on sale one hour prior to the concert at the Bjorling Recital Hall box office.
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