Eric Johanson

He was born and raised in Alexandria, Louisiana, United States, and was presented with his first guitar when he was five years old. He heard blues music regularly through performances by his family members; one grandfather was a piano tuner and jazz clarinetist, his grandmother was a pianist, and he had aunts proficient on cello and bass. Johanson also acquired a passion for the hard rock recordings of Metallica, Megadeth, and White Zombie. He played in a local blues band before traveling regularly to New Orleans in his mid-teens, to avail himself of the opportunity to play with more mature and capable musicians.