Robert "One Man" Johnson is a personal guitar hero to me. The first time I took a stage to play guitar for a large group, I had no idea what I was doing. Well, that's not entirely true. I had enough of an idea that I invited Robert to join me. He ended up doing most of the show, since I had only come prepared to play about 15 minutes' of material. I have been blessed to join him on stage again since then.
Robert was in Istanbul as an English teacher back then. He took advantage of his musical skills by using them to enhance his classroom - incorporating song in his lessons, at times getting his students to help in the writing process. Following his stint in Istanbul, he and his wife headed further east for other teaching jobs and experiences: China, Japan....
He is invested in his playing to the extent that wherever he goes, he finds venues to play and as a result makes contact with other musicians to collaborate with both live and in the studio. His website (and brand), housedogmusic.com give us only a glimpse of his extensive original repertoire and many collaborators, including but not limited to Bonnie Raitt, Muddy Waters .. and well, you just go check it out for yourself.
The "One-Man" moniker comes from the fact that he plays the guitar, harmonica, sings and taps a cymbals with one foot and his personally invented foot piano with the other. At the same time.
Check it out:
