Johnny Austin “One of A Kind”
If you end up in a musical city such as Nashville, Chicago, Cleveland…. you’ll likely end up becoming influenced by the music found in those cities. That influence may end up becoming part of the style of music you are writing while living there.
The musician Johnny Dean ended up moving to the city of Austin, Texas and it’s there that he started composing his music. Soon enough, Dean ended up forming a group to perform the music he was composing. The group goes under the moniker of “Johnny Austin,” a nickname Dean ended up receiving from a friend and fellow musician. The band named for Dean is still a relative newcomer to the music scene in the state of Texas, having only recently been formed. Aside from Dean as frontman, the band consists of: David “Davey H” Henry on lead guitar, bassist Suzanne “Suzy Q” Staton and drummer Joseph “Joey K” Kraft. Although only being together for a relatively short amount of time, “Johnny Austin” released their first album of “One of a Kind” in 2008.When listening to “One of a Kind” by the band Johnny Austin, you notice something a little weird right at the beginning of the album: programmed drums. While the group features Joey K on drums for live performances, Johnny Dean decided to use programming for the recording process. It makes me wonder two things: 1. What does the band sound like live? And 2. Why had Dean decided to go this route for the recording of this album? The obviously fake drums take away a lot from the music, as they are a big distraction.
And then, there is the situation with the bassist “Suzy Q:” While her vocals appear on the CD, her skills as a musician must also be experienced live in concert, as Dean also plays the bass parts on the CD.
When talking about the songs themselves, the fifteen songs on “One of a Kind” by Johnny Austin are very easy on the ears. When Dean was writing the songs, he took a lot of different influences including those from the area of Austin and added them into his style; the results being an album with songs that could be very commercial in nature. The music on the album could find its way onto the radio, especially “She’s So Sunshine,” and the title track of “One of a Kind”.
While fourteen of the tracks on the album were recorded in the studio, the album’s last track of “Freely Falling” is different from the others. That track was recorded in concert. The track features only Johnny Dean on vocals and guitar. This track gives the listener a chance to hear Dean’s talent as both a singer and guitarist, since it is just Dean live in concert. This is a good chance to hear what Dean can really do.
Although Johnny Dean and the rest of his band of Johnny Austin would have been better served if they had released a live album showing the listening public the talent of each member of the band, maybe it was Dean’s intention to let the people hear the music on the album and use the CD as a way to get the people to go out and see the band live. If that was the intention, the album by Johnny Austin should do the trick. As a stand-alone release, however, the songs on “One of a Kind” make for a good album.
To find the band of Johnny Austin, check out their website at www.johnnyaustin.ws. You can also find them on MySpace at www.myspace.com/JohnnyAustinMusic.
Reviewed By Matheson Kamin
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