MusicRadar

Eric Johnson has good news for his fans across the globe. "My new album is finally finished," the Grammy Award-winning guitarist tells MusicRadar. "It's called Up Close, and I'm looking to release it in the middle of October. There's the chance it could be held for a month or two, but I'm hoping for October. It turned out great. It's definitely a step in the right direction."

Before mounting a tour to promote Up Close, the guitarist is going to hit the road with Andy McKee and Peppino D'Agostino for the all-acoustic Guitar Masters tour. The 21-date, two-leg run of theaters, colleges and clubs (US dates only, so far) will feature individual sets by each capped with a finale where all three interplay and collaborate for the first time together.

McKee is an Internet phenomenon whose solo acoustic six-string performance videos have racked up an astounding 78 million-plus plays on YouTube, where he has also held the three Top-Rated Videos of All Time. His creative and innovative use of altered tunings, syncopated rhythm guitar taps, partial capos and his textural use of polyphonic tones are showcased on his six critically-lauded independent albums.

Native Italian steel-string player Peppino D'Agostino, who now resides in the San Francisco Bay area, has numerous releases to his credit, including collaborations with electric rock guitar star Stef Burns and classical guitar expert David Tanenbaum.

Johnson has played shows with D'Agostino in the past, but this will be the first time he's performed with McKee. The two guitarists haven't even met yet. But Johnson is a fan of the man's work. "Andy is a great player who puts all this guitar technique into songs he writes and plays that make them quite interesting," he says. "But it's still all about the song."

MusicRadar sat down with Johnson to talk about the Guitar Masters tour, which will be briefly interrupted by his participation in the fall run of the Experience Hendrix tour.

So there's been a little confusion as to the name of the tour. I've seen Guitar Masters as one title, then I saw Guitar Masters Acoustic as another.

[laughs] "Yeah, it's a funny kind of title, no matter what you call it. The whole 'Guitar Masters' thing scares me a little bit, because it makes me think about Segovia and Paco de Lucia - you know, the real masters. I hope people aren't let down when they see it's just us three guys."

Well, I wouldn't worry about that…

"No, I'm confident that the people will enjoy what we do. But you know, you don't want to build these things up too much."

How did the whole tour come about? Now, you and Peppino have done some touring before, but this will be your first time meeting, let alone playing with, Andy.

"Yeah, Peppino and I have done some stuff together. He's an amazing player, of course. He's the coolest. And I've been checking Andy's stuff out on You Tube - he's become quite popular. I think it was a good idea to put the three of us together on one bill. We come from different places musically, but we share the same passion for music and playing the acoustic guitar. It's going to be real cool."

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