Johnny Hiland Band

If you tried, you couldn't make up a story this good: legally blind kid grows up in a trailer home in rural Maine. A guitar prodigy, he tours with the family band starting at age 8, wins local and regional competitions, moves to Nashville, ends up dropping jaws all over town, doing sessions with Ricky Skaggs, Toby Keith, Randy Travis, Janie Fricke and many more, and gets signed by Steve Vai when his manager leaves a demo snippet on Steve's voicemail box. But indeed, this is true the story of Johnny Hiland. He made his solo debut on August 10th 2004 with his self-titled album on Vai's Favored Nations label, and now (November 2007) releases his second album “Loud and Proud," featuring his road band. While talent ran in his family from past generations, he felt a ferocious devotion to his instrument, often practicing long hours into the night before being ordered into bed. By the time he was seven years old, he had already performed on local tv, and formed a family band, with his brother and sister, called “The Three J's”. As youngsters, they toured extensively throughout New England winning the “Talent America” compation and joining the “Downeast Country Music Association”. They won numerous awards and had alot of fun as Johnny flourished into a young entertainer and multi-instrumentalist.

After attending a Ricky Skaggs concert in Bangor; the experience stimulated him to start exploring beyond bluegrass into mainstream country music. Seeing Ricky Skaggs that night was the turning point in determining Hilands future. He started listening to an ever widening range of players: Ricky Skaggs, Vince Gill, Steve Wariner, Chet Atkins, Brent Mason, Albert Lee, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson and Eddie Van Halen. After three years in college at the University of Southern Maine, Johnny realized his heart was somewhere else -- specifically, his heart was set on persuing a career in Nashville, TN as a instrumental guitar artist, session player, and instructor. He then decided to follow his dream and move to Nashville.

On his first night in Nashville, Johnny made his way to Lower Broadway, where a cluster of honky-tonks booked some of the hottest players in town. Wandering into the World-Famous Turf, told he'd have to wait until midnight to sit in with the band, Johnny sat patiently, and then took to the stage. It took only a few seconds for the bartender to pick up the phone and start spreading the word that a tornado, with a Telecaster in his hands, had just blown into town. Following this, Johnny began pickin' all over Nashville and dropping jaws every place he played. A few years later, he started playing lead guitar for the Don Kelley Band at Robert's Western World and had a blast cutting his teeth on some traditional country music with a new age sound. From Robert's stage, Johnny's reputation grew. He played the Ryman Auditorium, the Mother Church of Country Music, with Gary Chapman, received a standing ovation, and found himself on TNNs "Prime Time Country" with Gary Chapman, and then on the stage of "The Grand Ole Opry!"

Johnny also gained proper management with Mac Wilson, of Harmony Hollow Entertainment. Wilson worked with Johnny to build a strong foundation for his career. He placed Johnny with Fender Musical Instruments as the first unsigned artist to ever receive a full endorsement without a record, placed him in all the major guitar magazines, got Johnny teaching Master Classes all over the world, helped to establish a huge fan base for Johnny and his career, placed Johnny on stage with high profile opportunities, and made the phone call to Steve Vai, while Johnny was jamming with his band, that got him signed to his record deal with Steve's label, Favored Nations.

Johnny then moved on from his lower Broadway days in the honky tonks and began to expand his artistry as a solo guitarist in today's music world by working on his first album. The next two years exposed Johnny to a different pace, one that involved working on his songwriting, sending ideas back to Vai, getting feedback that was consistently positive yet kept pushing Johnny further toward finding a writing style that was as personal as his playing had been for years. While working on his album, Johnny met Peter Collins, whose production credits include Rush, Bon Jovi, the Indigo Girls, Queensryche, Jewel, and LeAnn Rimes. Collins just happened to hear Johnny tear it up one night, and made it known at once that he wanted to produce the young guitarist's debut. Their collaboration would be volatile, but more often it was a matter of each finding inspiration from the other. Combined with a killer band that kept up with light-speed picking, moved with him through Western swing, screaming, razor-toned rock, and introspective ballads, and illuminated his soaring melodies on ballads. Johnny Hiland achieved something few new artists achieve in their first outing: a blend of taste and flash, in which emotional, solid composition and h