About our founder:

Jan Johansson, Founder & Lead Instructor
fiddle, mandolin and guitar teacher.

Born & Raised

Jan (pronounced “Yahn”) was born in Skelleftea, Sweden in 1958 and began playing acoustic music at the age of 14. He started playing the guitar in 1972 and moved to the fiddle and mandolin by the time he was 18. Jan married Theresa Blue of Carthage, NC and moved to the US in 1989 after three years of traveling back and forth between the two countries and began working as a freelance translator and music instructor.

Education

Jan received his Filosofie Kandidat degree in Linguistics and Scandinavian Languages from University of Umeå in 1984. He went on to doctoral studies in theoretical linguistics before starting his full time pursuit of the Bluegrass. “I believe my background in linguistics has played an important role in how I teach and communicate about music,” Johansson said. “Music is just another form of communication and a means for people to relate and connect with each other. “Music and language both share a lot of common features. One of the most fascinating parallels is the fact that both systems are using a finite number of rules in order to generate an infinite number of meaningful phrases”.

On stage at station in with Bobby Hicks, Vassar Clements, Wayne Lewis, Scott McBride, Dennis Crouch (Hidden), and Allen Tolbert

Musical Instruction

Johansson Studios focuses on instruction for the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, bass. One of the main focuses is the application of skills acquired in the lesson setting to a a real life bluegrass band.

Teaching Philosophy

The primary goal of our organization is to share the joy of music with the public. Playing music is an activity that can be enjoyed on several levels. On an individual level, music not only provides a powerful expressive tool but it also enhances the relation with one's self and increases patience, self knowledge and confidence. Socially, we feel that music can serve as a bridge between different age groups, as well as socio-economic strata.

Being a universal system of communication, music often brings individuals with various ethnic and linguistic backgrounds together. We want to guide our students in all levels of musicianship according to their goals and needs. We offer the opportunity to perform various types of acoustic music ranging from Irish folk music and Appalachian fiddle tunes to Bluegrass and New Acoustic Music.

Musical Influences

Jan’s music and teaching style have been influenced over the years by a number of styles and musicians. The long list includes Bill Monroe, Clarence White, Kenny Baker, Bobby Hicks, Scott Stoneman, David Grisman, Tony Rice, Flatt & Scruggs, Stanley Brothers, John Renbourne, Leo Kottke, Roland White, Vassar Clements, Mike Compton, Ed Butler, Danny Gotham, Flatt & Scruggs, Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Davy Graham, John Mayall, Richard Greene, Julie Elkins, Russell Johnson, Gena Britt, Earl Lewellyn, Kurt Viklund,Hans Hedström, Bert Viklund, Mats Nyström, Thomas Haglund, Robert Blankenship, Frank Buchanan, Jerry Stuart, Rick Lassiter, Bernie Petteway, Clyde Franklin, Davy Graham, Beatles, Robert Johnson, Eric Clapton, Mange Norrman, Bert Lundin, Carl Caldwell, Swedish traditional as well as pop music.

Professional Accolades

Jan and his bands have been recognized by …IBMA nomination 1994 as Emerging Band of the Year. 1993 SPGMA World Champion band…1993 Pizza Hut Bluegrass Showdown International Champions…In 2001 Jan was instrumental in putting together the Amazing Grace Bluegrass Festival at the North Raleigh Hilton– a fundraiser for Russian orphans. The stellar line up included IIIrd Tyme Out, Larry Sparks, Country Gentlemen, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Lonesome Rive Band, Blue Highway, Mountain Heart, James King, Grass Cats, Carolina Road, Bass Mountain Boys, Al Batten, Tims Family and the Stringfellows .
In an attempt to raise more funds for the Russian orphans Jan has recorded a benefit Bluegrass Gospel Album, The Amazing Grace Project. On this album he has managed to gather most of the artists who performed at the Amazing Grace Bluegrass Festival plus a number of other high profile performers like Ricky Skaggs, Paul Brewster, The Whites, David Grisman, Kenny and Amanda Smith, Laurie Lewis, Tom Rozum, Bobby Hicks, Bill Evans, Honi Deaton, Kathy Kallick, Jim Nunally, Anna Lund, Kim Gardner, Tom Langdon, Darrin Vincent, Andy Leftwich, Lou Reid, Carolina Road Band, Butch Robins, Julie Elkins & Kane’s River, Bernie Petteway, Rick Lassiter, The Kinton Sisters, Gena Britt and Denise Hering.

Back Stage at the Station Inn with Bobby Hicks and Anna Lund

Band Participation

Jan’s first band was Grassy Licks formed in the mid 70:s It was a band made up by neighborhood friends from the small community of Ursviken - a suburb of Skelleftea - in Northern Sweden. Between 1976 and 1978 Jan visited Japan and was there a member of Norihide Iwahori’s band, Bluegrass 76 based in Shizuoka. After moving to the North Carolina has played in a number of groups including the Asheville, NC – based Pisgah Pickers together with guitar great Bryan Sutton. He also played in one of the early incarnations of the wellknown alternative country band, the Backsliders. Jan was a member of the award-winning bluegrass band -- New Vintage -- from 1991 to 1997. Together with Russell Johnson, Earl Lewellyn, Carl Caldwell, Zak McLamb, Julie Elkins, Richard Ham, Gena Britt they recorded three critically-acclaimed CD’s with the band. Several of New Vintage’s songs charted on Bluegrass Unlimited’s top 20 list. Their recording of Lyle Lovett’s LA County placed number two on that list in 1997. Jan has also performed as a studio musician in the US as well as Europe on numerous cd projects, commercial jingles on a variety of instruments. Lorraine Jordan’s popular Mandolin Rose project as well as The Wells Family album On Destiny’s Road are two recent recording projects that Jan has been a part of.

He has performed with John Hartford, Kenny Baker, Vassar Clements, Wayne Lewis, Dennis Crouch, Laurie Lewis, Charlie Waller & Country Gentlemen, Bill Keith, Alan Munde, Josh Graves, David Grier, Bill Evans, Missy Raines, Frank Buchanan, Roland White, Bobby Hicks, Russell Moore, Thad Cockrell, Wayne Benson, Steve Dilling and the Nashville Bluegrass Band, among others. Jan also played with Roby Huffman and the Bluegrass Cutups. He is currently involved in several constellations including the acoustic ensemble Stringfellows with Bernie Petteway, Rick Lassiter, Ed Butler and Danny Gotham. He also performs in a duo with dulcimer player/ songwriter Rick Brockner.
Since 2001 Jan has performed in Ira David Wood’s popular production Christmas Carol at Raleigh’s Memorial Auditorium as well as Raleigh Little Theater’s production of Smoke on the Mountain.

Since the winter of 2003 Jan is a member of Fatmen & Robin – a traditional Bluegrass band including Russell Johnson, Barney Rogers, Robin Crabtree and Danny Knighten.

Jan – a born again Christian – performs with his wife Theresa, Rev Sam Gore, Scott McBride, Phaedra Call and Denise Hering in the Bluegrass Gospel band Joyful Noise. In July 2003 Jan was a featured guest in Terrence Mann’s production Broadway Rocks NC – a celebration of the one hundred year anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight on the NC coast – at Regency Park Outdoor Theater in Cary, NC.

To contact Jan, Click Here.