BIO:
Canadian singer-songwriter Johnny Eden was born in Barrhaven, effectively a suburb of Nepean, which is a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario. He didn't realize the satisfaction of music until he picked up his father's acoustic guitar at the age of 14, and began a self-taught discovery of what the instrument could do. He played in various bands and released his debut CD in 2003, Midnight Fool, before settling into solo performance, culminating in the five song release, EP, in 2004.
In January of 2005, Johnny moved to the Yukon, and there began a professional music career, playing in local cafes and bars. By May of that year, Johnny was touring across Canada on the Greyhound, maintaining a dense touring schedule, including a number of festivals, and earning the nickname "The Last Troubadour" from Poor Pelly, organizer and namesake of Pelly-Pell-Ooza. By August, he had documented his live show with his third release, West of Eden: Live at Rasputin's Folk Cafe. Since that fateful winter of '05, Johnny has lived the life of troubadours of old, sharing news, story and many songs of love with fans across Canada. He has played twelve festivals and hundreds of shows, including folk club performances, house concerts, and cafe/bar gigs, and still contently resides below the poverty line in Canada, though he one day hopes to crawl above it.
PERFORMANCE:
Johnny Eden likes emotion, songs that make people feel. His goal in songwriting and performing is to induce empathy. He writes theatre, songs with a narrative flow, vignettes like or larger than life, backed by a musical style that suits them. He seeks to unite words, music, and characterization so that the whole becomes larger than its parts.
Johnny has a high intensity delivery and confident stage presence, a dynamic voice that ranges from Waits-like growls to Gaye-like falsetto soars, and a rhythmically steady right hand that is equally capable of finger or flat-picking, keeping shoulders swaying and toes tapping.
With his "turtle wins the race" career philosophy, Johnny has slowly but surely been gathering respect and appreciation from fans, peers, and organizers across the country. In his own words, "I would rather crawl to be a legend than rush to be a star."
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