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Johnson began to play guitar at the age of seven, but didn't pick up the banjo until he was about 25 years old. He worked as a mechanic in a service station at his hometown of
Hiseville, Kentucky before he earned enough money as a musician. Johnson played in several local bands, including the Rocky
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In 1981, Johnson and Burch left the New Grass
Revival, citing that they were tired of touring. They continued playing locally in several bands including the Courtney Johnson Band, Barren County and BJT (Burch, Johnson, Timberlake). Johnson later put together a band including Burch on dobro/guitar,
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was formed by Bush, Johnson, Walker and Curtis Burch in 1971, after they left Lonnie Peerce and decided to create their own band. The group name comes from the style they created, "Newgrass", a term that Sam Bush credited to Ebo Walker. This line-up recorded the band's self-titled album in 1972.
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and bassist Ebo Walker. The
Bluegrass Alliance is often considered as one of the bands that started to play progressive bluegrass. Band frontman Lonnie Peerce suffered with health problems and the band went on hiatus several times. Other members of the group were busy with other projects and all
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himself on banjo/guitar, his wife Hazel on mandolin/guitar and Eric Albany on bass. Johnson died on June 7, 1996, aged 56, diagnosed with lung cancer. On
September 24 of that year, a benefit concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee was organized by his friend
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asked
Courtney to join his band, Poor Richard's Almanac. They played together in local clubs until 1970, when Bush left to join the Bluegrass Alliance band. In 1971, Johnson also joined the band, consisting of Bush, fiddler Lonnie Peerce, guitarist
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solos with the band include songs such as "When the Storm Is Over", "Steam
Powered Aeroplane", "Fly through the Country", "This Heart of Mine", "Crooked Smile", "Souvenir Bottles", "Great Balls of Fire" and others.
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and recorded 5 albums in this setup. Most of the band members were multi-instrumentalists and
Johnson often switched from banjo and guitar, sometimes even during one song on stage. He occasionally played
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and his Clinch
Mountain Boys, Johnson is often considered to be an inventor of the newgrass style of banjo playing, polished and improved later on by such personalities as
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156:(December 20, 1939 – June 6, 1996) was an American banjo player, best known for his work as an original member of the band
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After some early changes on the bass position, the group recruited rock bassist
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207:. The Bluegrass Alliance eventually reformed in 1998 with all new members.
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that led, consequently, to disbanding of the group and creation of the
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Road Boys with Bill
Hatfield on fiddle and Bill Logsdon on guitar.
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Although
Johnson was influenced by traditional banjo players like
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as well and occasionally sang harmony. During his years with
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The Live Album (Leon Russell and New Grass Revival)
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652:Grass Roots: The Best of the New Grass Revival
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423:Courtney Johnson biography on bgdailynews.com
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428:Courtney Johnson biography on music.aol.com
938:International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame
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933:International Bluegrass Music Association
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365:www.bgdailynews.com www.bgdailynews.com
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262:on banjo). The concert also included
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1054:20th-century American male musicians
956:International Bluegrass Music Awards
928:International Bluegrass Music Museum
398:Johnson bio on www.bgdailynews.com
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1029:Bluegrass musicians from Kentucky
951:Central Canadian Bluegrass Awards
886:List of bluegrass music festivals
1034:20th-century American guitarists
1049:Country musicians from Kentucky
1024:Progressive bluegrass musicians
418:Courtney Johnson on MySpace.com
912:List of bluegrass mandolinists
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1019:People from Glasgow, Kentucky
1014:American bluegrass guitarists
881:Tottenham Bluegrass Festival
876:Telluride Bluegrass Festival
902:List of bluegrass musicians
342:Info on www.bgdailynews.com
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856:High Sierra Music Festival
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871:Podunk Bluegrass Festival
861:Festival of the Bluegrass
644:Best of New Grass Revival
609:Too Late to Turn Back Now
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413:Courtney Johnson obituary
1044:American male guitarists
1039:Guitarists from Kentucky
907:List of bluegrass bands
590:Friday Night in America
534:Fly Through the Country
828:Sub- and fusion genres
542:When the Storm is Over
433:The Bluegrass Alliance
331:Bio on www.answers.com
835:Traditional bluegrass
663:Collaboration albums
144:, Bluegrass Alliance
944:Bluegrass Unlimited
730:Typical instruments
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895:Notable performers
628:Compilation albums
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849:Notable festivals
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230:New Grass Revival
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38:December 20, 1939
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236:. His trademark
160:. Influenced by
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550:Barren County
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298:Playing style
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376:www2.nau.edu
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304:Earl Scruggs
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294:and others.
284:Ricky Skaggs
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245:Later career
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170:Alison Brown
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115:Years active
61:(1996-06-06)
59:June 6, 1996
15:
1004:1996 deaths
999:1939 births
759:Double bass
601:Live albums
272:Tim O'Brien
138:Formerly of
132:Flying Fish
993:Categories
507:Ebo Walker
495:John Cowan
485:Béla Fleck
318:References
288:Pete Rowan
260:Béla Fleck
234:Béla Fleck
221:John Cowan
180:Early life
166:Béla Fleck
95:Occupation
34:1939-12-20
866:Merlefest
786:technique
781:resonator
769:technique
747:resonator
679:Deviation
636:Anthology
490:Pat Flynn
200:Tony Rice
193:In 1969,
970:Category
947:magazine
776:Mandolin
742:acoustic
480:Sam Bush
268:Hot Rize
252:Sam Bush
195:Sam Bush
109:, guitar
98:Musician
85:Newgrass
74:Kentucky
49:Kentucky
128:Starday
119:1964–96
66:Glasgow
41:Glasgow
977:Portal
764:Fiddle
737:Guitar
682:(1984)
674:(1981)
655:(2005)
647:(1994)
639:(1990)
620:(1984)
612:(1977)
593:(1989)
585:(1987)
577:(1986)
569:(1984)
561:(1981)
553:(1979)
545:(1977)
537:(1975)
529:(1972)
124:Labels
81:Genres
921:Other
804:Blues
754:Banjo
238:banjo
226:dobro
107:Banjo
814:Jazz
617:Live
306:and
76:, US
56:Died
28:Born
995::
363:I
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32:(
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