Robert 'One-Man' Johnson
sings original blues & ragtime songs and plays
guitar, harmonica, hi-hat cymbal and footpiano
...simultaneously
Born:
Robert Vernon Valentine Johnson, 1942, Wisconsin, USA 
BA  University of Wisconsin Eau Claire 1967  
MA University of Iowa 1990  
Married:
1972  Margery Fairchild
International Teaching Posts: 
Istanbul / Nagoya / Yanbu Saudi Arabia / Istanbul again
Currently: Shanghai American School
Musical Background:
1958  Debonaires 1963 New Freedom Singers 
1968 Last Fair Deal Blues Band
Since 1970  solo singer/songwriter / international educator
Major Musical Influences: 
Jesse Fuller, Mose Allison, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf
 Publication: 
How To Play Blues Guitar book 2  ; Hal Leonard Publishing  

Some Performance Credits:
Concerts and Festivals at more than 200 colleges and universities in the US
5 appearances on 'A Prairie Home Companion'
Club and Concert spots:
Museum of Modern Art, Lone Star Cafe, New York City
Chicagofest, Earl of Old Town, Chicago
Tiptina's, Tulanefest, New Orleans
Three Rivers Arts Festival, Pittsburgh
Summerfest, Milwaukee
Main Point, Philadelphia
Bottom Line, Nagoya    Artist Quarter, Mpls.
House of Blues and Jazz, Shanghai
Jazz Cafe, Turkish Radio and Television, Istanbul
Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, Davenport
Major venue opening act work with:
Bonnie Raitt, Dr. John, Muddy Waters, Dave Von Ronk,
Hall and Oates, Leon Redbone, John Prine, Willie Dixon, 
James Cotton, Mojo Buford, Mose Allison, Phoebe Snow, 
Captain Beefheart, Eric Andersen, Mink Deville,
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Robert Jr. Lockwood, 
Corky Siegel, Commander Cody, Bonnie Koloc, Koko Taylor, 
Dave 'Snaker' Ray, John Hammond, Luther Allison, 
and Bulent Ortacgil and Erkan Ogur
 

          My foot pianos are clearly inspired by Jesse Fuller's invention he called a 'fotdella'. I hosted him a club in Eau Claire Wisconsin in 1966 and he stayed with me for a few days.  He had a plywood box with 5 strings and a piece of a piano action that he played with his big toe.  Sometimes he stood up and danced on a sheet of wood with tap shoes.  I took his 'foot diller' idea (with his blessing) and made some changes adding more strings to get a full octave and designing a pedal system like a typewriter to center the strings on the sound board.  I have made about 14 or 15 different models over the years. The two pictured above are in Shanghai.  One is acoustic and the other, more practical model, has electric pickups designed by Naoyuki Ishishiro.  I also have one I leave in Iowa City for summer gigs.  
            My stage guitars are all headless using homemade tuners: #1 an old National, probably 1936, a gift late one night from Craig Steitz of Milwaukee.  The only original piece left is the body, which was badly rusted and since was nickel-plated by a Harley technician up in Duluth. The neck is by Gordon Bischoff.  I now have moved that guitar to the US and it is semi-retired for the few summertime gigs I get to play.  It has been replaced by a modifed Owens Crossroads (see picture below)#2 The acoustic was self-designed but made by Ekrem Ozkarpat of Istanbul.  #3 I made the Strat clone from a Warmoth body, custom drilled for the tune-o-matic bridge and a Stewart-Macdonald neck.  All the neck modifications were perfected by Ekrem Ozkarpat.  Pickups are modified by Naoyuki Ishishiro  from stacked Seymour Duncans.  Ekrem, his crew  and I made a headless 12 string in Istanbul...it uses the new Steinberger direct  tuners in a pocket on the body. 

The hi-hat cymbals are Istanbul brand and the   stand is from Paul Cunliffe whose father used this portable lowboy in the '40s on a regular CBS radio program from some station in Chicago.  The harmonicas are Hohner Special 20s.  I use a Pick boy metal slide, John Pearse thumbpicks and, when I can find them, Propick 2 fingerpicks.

The Owens Crossroads modified to headless.  It has an aluminum body, one humbucker and a piezo system designed by Zeta.  I made the tuners from strat and tele parts.  Sadly, this cool guitar has been discontinued by the company.

Headless 12-string designed by me and Ekrem Ozkarpat.  Originally it used banjo tuners, but I replaced them with two sets of Steinberger Direct tuners.   It sounds great!