Album Notes

Kenneth Johnston was born in Baton Rouge in the Numeric Year of 1951. He grew up in a rural area north of Baton Rouge. His parents had a record collection of mostly big band, novelty, and r&b tunes, and hearing these types of music at an early age was a big influence. As a teenager he became interested in Motown, blues, and rock bands like the Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, Captain Beefheart, and Iggy and the Stooges. However, it was the old Delta Blues -- especially John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters that he was fascinated by. Mr. Johnston began collecting records, and began a lifelong dedication to learning about the blues of Louisiana and Mississippi. When he was 27 he began learning to play guitar. He performed with a few local bands in the 1980's (some roots music, mostly punk and old rock and roll) as well as performing "ambient music and prepared guitar" in art galleries. His prepared guitar contributions to the Curable Interns project are still available on the internet through CD Baby. In 2003, while attempting to find people interested in reviving the Curable Interns as a performing ensemble, he recorded Instrumental Music from the Horsehead Point Community - interpretations of field recordings from long after the end of numeric time. This traditional music from the area once known as Louisiana-Mississippi blends older styles of blues, jazz, bluegrass, Phoenician and Sumerian play-party music with more recent extraterrestrial influences. Although the actual field recordings have not been cleared for public release in this New Gomorrah Library Archive Series edition, there are a few select field recordings of wheel landings and problems with "livestock" included.