Johann wasn't quite born with a guitar in his hands. We think. At age 3 he recalls “bugging” his parents to get him a guitar and by age 9, they yielded. Back then Johann's passion for the Blues was born when he came across Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Texas Flood" - the only CD he would own, listen, and learn for over a year. By the time he was 12 he was performing in festivals, venues, and bars, throughout his native Switzerland. It was then that a man named Phil Collins discovered him. Yes, the Phil Collins. Johann was a mere 14 years of age when Collins realized that Johann’s talent had to be nurtured. He was set on a path in Collins foundation for young talents (The Little Dreams Foundation http://www.ldf.cc/EN/fondation/mot.html). This encounter would become one of the most determining and inspiring experiences of his early life. During the following four years Johann performed numerous times with Phil Collins but also with Mike Rutherford ("Genesis"), Steve Howe ("Yes"), The Pretty Things, MC Solaar, Yannick Noah, Maurane and others, as well as open for artists such as Lionel Richie, Barbara Hendricks and Tina Turner in some of Europe's most prestigious venues (Montreux Jazz Festival, MIDEM, Tourbillon Stadium, AVO Festival).
Phil Collins sent Johann on many coaching programs in France, England, and the US before enrolling him at Berklee College of Music on a scholarship, as he had just turned 18. He earned his degree in less than two years during which time he had the privilege to perform with Philip Bailey ("Earth Wind and Fire"), Steve Winwood, Arthur Adams, and others before heading to Los Angeles in 2008. Johann started getting studio and touring work with local acts and bigger names such as Al B Sure, Ginny Owens, Scott Erickson, Marconi, Guadalupe Piñeda, Sylvester Rivers, Ray Parker Jr., and Mitchel Musso. In 2011, this young man was asked to join the ensemble of the legendary Engelbert Humperdinck. Initially the lead guitarist, he is now also his assistant music director and arranger.
Currently on world tour with the "Humper,” Johann continues his collaborative ventures in LA and is working on a workshop/clinic tour in Europe as well as gearing up for his own blues-fueled project.
Johann doesn't falter in knowing that something beyond him has blessed him. Hence he makes a point in giving back what has been given to him, coaching younger artists and working with churches as well as institutions such as Berklee, the Collins's foundation, and his musical endorsers in the US and Europe. His passions for traveling, languages (of which he fluently speaks five), cultures, Faith and diversity go hand in hand with his music and drive him towards his every-day objective: To influence popular music in a qualitative, inspired and positive way.
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