Eric Johnson has devoted his career to sidestepping categories. The instrumental guitarist and occasional singer may be steeped in Texas blues rock, but he has frequently drifted into fusion, soul and new age since the '80s. While his beloved “Cliffs of Dover” finds him using a simple folk melody as a launching pad for his fleet-fingered arpeggios, the crystalline tones woven into “Trademark” transform smokey roadhouse boogie into glistening beauty. On “Battle We Have Won”, jazz-kissed pop gets soaked in watery textures, while his hushed tenor proves as graceful and shimmering as his fret-work.