One day scientists will arrive at the formula by which Eric Johnson achieves such a warm, plush sound from his amps. Or maybe not. Maybe it’s just his own magic. Vortexan is bathed in these frequencies. A kick-up-the-dirt blues number with the kind of cheeky riff that would make Jeff Beck go, ‘Now, why didn‘t I think of that?’, it comes complete with a lengthy solo in which Johnson takes it far and wide.

Eric Johnson says:

“I was in Sedona, Arizona once, and a friend of mine started calling me a ‘Vortexan.’ He was talking about how spacey Sedona was, how it’s full of these vortexes and stuff, and he turned to me and said, ’And you’re the Vortexan!’ So I thought, Hey, that‘s pretty cool. Might make a good song title.

“I was kind of fooling around with different blues riffs, and this one came out of it. It’s reminiscent of [Robert Johnson’s] Cat’s Squirrel and a little bit like my song Righteous. Then again, when you do rockin’ blues, I-IV-V, it’s bound to remind you of something else. But I think I put a neat spin on it.”