50 Plus: Moved by the blues spirit

By Casey Gillis

Published: November 14, 2008

Editor’s Note: 50 Plus is a regular special feature profiling Central Virginians ages 50 and over and focusing on a particular theme. This edition’s theme is music. Click here for more 50 Plus stories.

When Dennis Johnson hits the stage, he turns into a different person.

“I transform,” says the lead singer and harmonica player for the Deanie Blues Band. “I go from Dennis to Deanie. Don’t blame me, blame Deanie.”

“Performing just brings out another side of me, another part of my life.”

The band, which formed in 2001 and frequently plays around town at venues like Jazz Street Grill and The Ellington, is known for its high-energy shows.

Edwana Coleman books bands for The Ellington and says it’s a crowd favorite.

“The guys are wonderful musicians, and their talent is enhanced by the obvious chemistry they have with the audience. As the front man, Dennis is very charismatic.”

Johnson, 52, and his bandmates will often create set lists before shows, but don’t always stick to them. He prefers to take his cues from the audience.

“I mix it up. Sometimes, I shoot from the hip, or if you’ve got a good groove going, I’ll make (something) up,” he says. “I get a natural high on performing. I just like to shake it.”

It’s hard to believe it, but Johnson, who drives his own 18-wheeler transporting paper products, says he used to be shy.

Growing up in Amherst, he sang in his church choir and joined his first band, an R&B group called Cool Breeze, when he was 16 years old. He was a backup singer.

“I like to call myself a slow bloomer,” Johnson says. “I was always playing in the outfield. I’m finally coming up to bat.”

He didn’t discover the blues until he moved back to Amherst in 1991 after a 12-year stint in the Army.

He started jamming with another Amherst musician, Worth Proffit, who was dabbling in the blues and asked Johnson to play harmonica.

“I had an ear for music,” Johnson says.

“I blew that harmonica, and a light bulb turned on. We have been doing the blues ever since.”

At the time, he was working as a truck driver for Quality Foods. He whetted his appetite for blues on the road.

“Every little mom-and-pop store I went to, I was buying CDs. Anything with a harmonica, I’d buy.”

The self-taught Johnson calls his harmonica skills “unorthodox.”

“I don’t even hold it right,” he laughs. “I do it my own way.”

He continued playing with Proffit for 10 years. They called themselves Proffit and Johnson and, later, Jump Street.

They parted ways amicably in 2001. Proffit wanted to stick to a more traditional blues sound, while Johnson longed to incorporate more R&B and gospel into the mix.

“I had a lot more flavor in me,” he says. “I always kind of took it over the top.”

So Johnson formed the Deanie Blues Band with bassist Jay Hall and drummer Roy Slaughter.

Since then, the band has gone through a few changes.

The current line-up is Johnson, Hall, guitarists Gregg Yeager and Rick Hill and drummer James “Cub” Mosby, who Johnson played with in high school.

They released a CD, “Greedy Man … Don’t You Know,” last year.

Johnson says their music is upbeat and has the feel of Chicago-style blues, which is known for combining the acoustic guitar and harmonica of traditional blues with electric guitar, drums, piano and, sometimes, saxophone.

“Blues is a feeling,” he says. “It’s just that love of music and that spirit in me.”

“There’s just something about it,” he adds, pausing to break out in a little blues air guitar.

“It just lights me up.”