RECONSTRUCTED CLASSICS

is built on real live musicians whooping it up together, so the pandemic shut down has been particularly challenging for cats in the 504 area code. Eric Johanson, known mostly as an electric whiz with a sweet slide game, got his big break being discovered by Louisiana blues guru Tab Benoit. He produced Johanson’s 2017 debut, , for his label, Whiskey Bayou, and Johanson was an integral part of Benoit’s Whiskey Bayou Revue rave-ups. Luther Dickinson produced Johanson’s raucous album, released in September 2020 on Nola Blue. With the Crescent City shuttered and little touring action, Johanson wasn’t able to fully maximize his upward momentum, but he didn’t lose it all either because, unlike a lot of roots players unwilling to tamper with technology beyond a tube amp, he assembled an above-average live-streaming rig and kept his roll going online with weekly acoustic performances. He played cover versions of anything he ever loved, regardless of genre. Fans started sending him requests, and he ultimately conjured a considerable catalog of stripped-down, loop-based arrangements. He built on that approach in his home recording studio,