Damon Johnson, guitarist for Skynyrd and others, plans career-spanning Gadsden show

Damon Johnson's musical journey has taken him to some of the biggest stages on the planet and one of the prime jobs in rock and roll as a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd's lead guitar triumvirate.

Gadsden played a significant part in that journey, however — he graduated from Geraldine High School just up the road in DeKalb County — and Johnson always welcomes a chance to return to those roots.

He'll do that again on April 25 with “An Evening with Damon Johnson & Friends” at the historic Pitman Theatre at 629 Broad St.

The concert starts at 6 p.m. Gadsden's Albert Simpson, known for his “Southern fried folk funk,” is the opening act.

“Gadsden has meant so much to me my whole life,” Johnson said in a telephone interview from Lexington, Kentucky, where he and Lynyrd Skynyrd were set to play in their current co-headlining tour with ZZ Top. “That is where I would come and see bands play in the clubs, and I started playing there myself through the years.”

Two of the clubs that stand out in his mind are Chestnut Station, which is still in business, and The Warehouse.

“I played (at The Warehouse) a ton,” Johnson said. “As a matter of fact, as I was on the path to try to start writing my own songs and putting the band together that ultimately started shopping for a record deal, that band played The Warehouse several times. It gave us a place to actually perform some of our own material in the midst of whatever cover tunes we were playing. Always good crowds, man, good times and good folks in Gadsden, for sure.”

Johnson is planning a career-spanning show for the Pitman, covering his days as front man for the legendary Alabama band Brother Cane to his lead guitar stints with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Thin Lizzy and the Alice Cooper Band, as well as his solo work.

“It's a thrill for me to come to town at this point in my career,” he said, “and bring a band filled with some of my favorite musicians backing me up,” he said. “It's about entertaining the people in Gadsden, so I feel like I have really put a good show together, tipping the hat to all those musical high points.”

He'll be accompanied on keyboards by Buck Johnson, whose resume includes stints with Aerosmith (and members Steve Tyler and Joe Perry individually), Johnny Depp's Hollywood Vampires and the country group Whiskey Falls (along with Johnson), plus the revived Brother Cane,

Gadsden's Jon Player will handle the bass duties and Jarred Pope will be the drummer.

Damon Johnson will be in Gadsden during a break in Lynyrd Skynyrd's schedule. He became associated with the group in 2021 as a temporary replacement for the late Gary Rossington, who had undergone heart surgery.

He now shares lead guitar duties with longtime member Ricky Medlocke and Mark Matejka, who's been with Skynyrd since 2006, calling it “the most fun I've ever had in my whole career.”

Johnson added, “I'm grateful that I've done a few things, and it's always the most fulfilling when I'm playing my stuff, my songs, things I've written, whatever my expression (is). But the music of that band — Ronnie Van Zant's lyrics, that guitar army they had and the way they arranged all those amazing parts — that was the textbook that I studied and learned from during my developing years.

“Skynyrd took up so much of that real estate for me,” he said. “I'm grateful that it did because it helped me become the professional I am right now.”

Johnson said Skynyrd is “the mothership as far as my calendar” for 2024, but their touring schedule is conducive not just to ensuring sufficient time with his family (his home base is Nashville, Tennessee, now), but for his other musical pursuits, such as solo work and Brother Cane.

He said Brother Cane did about 20 shows last year, will do about the same in 2024 and put out two new songs last year that he's “super thrilled with.” The group's 1993 debut album also was reissued, including a first-ever vinyl release.

Floor seats for the Pitman concert are sold out; balcony seats are $35 and are available at https://bit.ly/4cFt759.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Gadsden concert will feature Lynyrd Skynyrd guitar player