Bluesin’ Around is a collection of favorites of Grammy Award winning Donald Ray Johnson and The Gas Blues Band who have performed during their years together. “I met Gaspard in 2004 while on tour with the Maurice John Vaughn Revue, and we’ve done several tours since,” Johnson says. “I was very pleased to go to France to record with this great band. It’s a pleasure working with these stellar musicians.
Texas-born vocalist and drummer Donald Ray Johnson has spent a lifetime dedicated to music. He has performed with blues legends such as Big Mama Thornton, Percy Mayfield, Lowell Fulson and Philip Walker, and toured with R&B stars including The Isley Brothers, The Commodores and Teddy Pendergrass. As an original member of the R&B/disco group A Taste of Honey, Johnson was the drummer on “Boogie Oogie Oogie,” a now-classic, platinum-selling recording that reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 1978 and led to the group’s Grammy Award for Best New Artist the following year.
The Gas Blues Band was created five years ago by guitarist and vocalist Gaspard “Gas” Ossikian and features Philippe “Pompon” Scemama on bass, Yannick “Papayan” Urbani on drums and Pierre
“Little Peter” Cayla on guitar. Whether backing numerous artists or performing under its own name, the Gas Blues Band has forged a unique musical identity, bringing to the stage an electrified style that combines elements of Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, ZZ Top and James Brown.
