Episode 147: Will Johnson

Vinyl Emergency

Growing up learning to play drums to his favorite LP's, Will Johnson earned an affection for the album as a beginning-to-end document from an early age. Aside from nearly two decades fronting the influential four-piece Centro-Matic, Will is known in Americana/indie-rock circles as being a serial collaborator: He's joined forces over the years in some capacity with Jason Molina, David Bazan and Jay Farrar among others, while also drumming for Monsters Of Folk, featuring Conor Oberst, M. Ward and Jim James. If that weren't enough, he's released seven records to date under his own name, but in March he dropped perhaps his deepest solo endeavor yet -- his first novel, titled If Or When I Call. On today's episode, Will speaks about his meticulous recording process, alphabetizing his record collection during the pandemic, the song Jason Isbell wrote about Centro-Matic, the recent loss of Hank Aaron, growing up with Sheryl Crow as his babysitter and which box set he never goes on tour without. Visit will-johnson.com to keep tabs on everything Will's up to, and support your favorite local bookstore by purchasing If Or When I Call from indiebound.org.