Like many of his fellow Texans whose interests turned toward oil versus music, renowned guitarist and composer Eric Johnson didn't let his first outing as a recording artist get him down when he hit an unproductive well.

According to several biographies on the globally recognized musician, Johnson's debut project Seven Worlds took 20 years before it was commercially released. But that early stall did not deter him from digging in.

And while a Grammy nomination for a song called "Zap" on his sophomore effort Tones did much to expose him to a wider audience beyond his fan base in Austin, even that growing legion - and perhaps Johnson himself - was not anticipating the explosion of fame that came on like a gusher with the release of Ah Via Musicom.

That album, with its unforgettable, soaring instrumental "Cliffs of Dover," earned him a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1991, catapulting that project to Platinum status in 1991 and creating a career that few artists of his genre have enjoyed.

Johnson has also effectively broadened his accessibility by participating in extracurricular outings including a 1996 outing with G3, featuring stellar guitarist colleagues Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. He had such a blast with that side project that he resurrected G3 for another global outing in 2006, this time with Satriani and John Petrucci.

Also, in 2014, Johnson joined the

Experience Hendrix Tour, a virtual cornucopia of top guitarists on a touring tribute to Jimi Hendrix. 

Along the way Johnson formed another touring act called Alien Love Child that produced a well-received live album in 2000, and more recently teamed up with guitarist Mike Stern in late 2014 for a duet album and tour.

As that collaboration drew to a close, Johnson began compiling material that he said he had been composing over a number of years to complete his first acoustic project, EJ, which was released to critical acclaim in October 2016.

As a result of all that work, and a total of nine albums worth of compositions, the artist has loads of material to excite and entice fans who keep coming back to his shows.

Johnson will be there for Connecticut fans again this year, so far scheduling two intimate concert appearances with his trio: a June 1 set at Hartford's Infinity Hall, and June 2 stop at Fairfield's Stage One. In a preconcert interview with The Newtown BeeExperience Hendrix Tour., the conversation turned quickly to his much talked about stint on the

The Newtown Bee: As you collaborated across the spectrum of guitarists and other musicians in the Hendrix Tours, were you surprised to discover unique chemistry with any of your colleagues that made jamming with them an epiphanous experience?

Eric Johnson: I think the chemistry between myself and Eric Gales was really special. We would do the song "May This Be Love," and it would work really well with the two of us. Eric is a fine player.

TNB: I'm inclined to wonder if you can do what you do because you basically play guitar every day either in practice, performance or both?

Johnson: I pretty much play every day. I have to or it will get really bad really fast. In a few days it will all go down the drain (laughing), so I have to play every day just to keep it together. When I'm off tour or not recording, I just kind of play for fun, you know, exploring, trying to find something new, something inventive, or something worthwhile to create a song by. When I'm getting ready to tour, there's still time for a little fun, but there's also an agenda - working up the set, relearning music or writing new music, so there's a little bit more of a hands-on focus on the task at hand.

TNB: Is there a tendency to discover new ideas and new tricks to apply to existing or older material when you're figuring out which of those long-lost tunes you're going to include in a new tour's set list?

Johnson: That's a good question, John. I think there's a certain comfort in playing things the way you know it. But there's some sweat and challenge to pushing that material somewhere else. But then there is the reward when you reconnect with that - your interest level gets stronger. So I guess the more you give yourself permission to do it differently, I mean nobody is ever making you to do it exactly the way you did it anyway. I think there's a certain shelf life to playing it exactly the way you did it before. There are certain songs, if I just keep playing it the same way over 10, 20 years, I can't get to that same level of excitement like that. It's a double-edged sword. If it's such an integral part of the song, that's one thing. But then there's opportunities to stretch. It's kind of like exercising - you're just not supposed to work on the same set of muscles all the time. You can kind of burn out by playing that same song the same way over and over. I like giving myself permission to change arrangements a little bit so I can still enjoy them, too.

TNB: When you make that conscious decision to change up a popular arrangement, do you get positive feedback from the fans if they like it too?

Johnson: Yeah, I think they do give you that feedback. Of course there are certain things in my songs that have to remain recognizable, so they can still relate to that song as well, but it's a give and take. I think the more I'm into what I'm doing, the more the fans enjoy it, and the more I'm into it, right?

TNB: What is the ratio of your material that involves lyrics and music, versus just instrumental?

Johnson: About half and half.

TNB: Does the material that involves vocals tend to develop from lyrical ideas, or is there a point in the writing process where words start to kind of sprout from the musical bed?

Johnson: It's more the latter. I almost always have the music and I write the lyrics after. Sometimes they come at the same time, but usually not. Usually a song makes itself evident to me whether it's going to be an instrumental or a vocal arrangement. But there have been times when I set out to write a vocal tune, and the vocal has never amounted to making it any better, so I just turn it into an instrumental.

TNB: Switching to your instruments. They say there's nothing like a classic. Do you find vintage instruments perform better because of the way they were crafted and produced, or can a properly set up instrument right off the rack today perform comparably or better than, say, an early to mid-60s Stratocaster?

Johnson: There are exceptions to the rule when you'll come across a new guitar model that will sound better than an old one. Maybe the older models have something of an edge because they've had time to age and get smoother to play. But there are definitely older instruments that haven't responded to the way I'd hoped they would sound. Speaking of the Fenders, there are plenty of old ones and I love the way they sound and play, but there are certain drawbacks to them from a technological standpoint. I've found the fret boards on the newer ones are easier to play, and you can push the pickups a little harder. Very often I would take on an older Strat and do a few things to modernize it, [because] years ago they were cheaper. I kind of like that cross between modern and old.

TNB: Is that where it all starts, or is it really about the right combination of amps and effects that help you achieve the Eric Johnson sound?

Johnson: It's really about the whole package. It's like the guitar, amps, and effects are part of one big instrument.

TNB: Let's talk about your latest project, EJ. Was it a natural progression to evolve to an acoustic album, or an idea you had on the shelf whose time had come?

Johnson: I've been wanting to do it for years, but it's something I just never stopped and took the time to do. A lot of that material came from years ago

TNB: Is the tour we're going to see in Connecticut electric, acoustic, or some combination of the two?

It's mostly electric, but it will be a combination of the two. I always included acoustic guitar as flavoring in my recordings, and I almost always included a couple of acoustic songs in my live shows.Johnson:

For information or tickets to the June 1 show in Hartford, visit infinityhall.com, and for details and tickets for his Fairfield concert, visit fairfieldtheatre.org/stageone.

Check out Eric Johnson performing his popular instrumental "Cliffs of Dover" at the NAMM convention in 2009:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7bzFFSBFvY

Watch Eric Johnson and Eric Gales performing "May This Be Love" on the 2014 Experience Hendrix Tour:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iWURKMrKYM