Evan Johns

Evan Johns was a roots rock guitar hero, playing rough and tumble rock & roll that drew on rockabilly, country, blues, R&B, surf music, and garage rock, attacked with a gritty energy that boosted the impact of his fleet-fingered soloing. Johns was a versatile player who could work with collaborators as diverse as "Redneck Jazz" guitarist Danny Gatton (on Gatton's 1978 album of that name) and Dead Kennedys' vocalist Jello Biafra (he sat in on Biafra's 1994's Prairie Home Invasion, with Mojo Nixon), but on his 1986 debut with his band the H-Bombs, Rollin' Through the Night, he staked out a free-spirited sound that was suitable for crowded honky tonks on a rowdy Saturday night. Late career efforts like 2013's Panoramic Life and 2014's Somewhere Over the Skyline were more subdued, though the raunchy growl of his voice and his hot rod guitar licks still lived up to his legend.