Eric Johanson has built his career on the idea that roots are a foundation, not a boundary. The New Orleans guitarist, singer and songwriter draws from blues, rock, psychedelia and the musical language of his Louisiana home, turning those influences into songs that are heavy, melodic, raw and unmistakably his own. His guitar may be the first thing that grabs attention, but it has always served a larger picture: songwriting, voice, groove and the electricity of a band playing in the moment.

Johanson’s 2023 album, The Deep and the Dirty, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart, expanding his audience with a harder-edged sound that paired thick guitar textures and swampy rhythms with increasingly focused songwriting. He followed it with 2025’s Live In Mississippi, another Billboard Top 10 release that captured the intensity and unpredictability of his power-trio stage show.

That momentum carries into The Open Bayou, Johanson’s new studio album and the first released on his own Levee Ward Records. Recorded largely live as a trio with bassist Will Repholz and drummer Jake Gartenstein during three days off from touring, the record pushes deeper into the collision of blues and heavy rock that has increasingly defined his music. Fuzz, slide guitar, hypnotic rhythms and off-center textures run through the album, but the songs remain at the center.

Johanson mixed and mastered the record with Bill Skibbe, known for his work with Jack White, The Raconteurs, The Kills and Jon Spencer. Rather than polishing away the imperfections of the sessions, the goal was to preserve their raw spark and physical impact - the sound of three musicians reacting to one another in real time. The result is heavier and stranger than Johanson’s previous work without leaving his roots behind, finding instead how far those roots can reach.

Born in Louisiana and based in New Orleans for most of his life, Johanson first broke through when blues artist Tab Benoit signed him to Whiskey Bayou Records and produced his solo debut, Burn It Down, in 2017. Benoit later spent two years behind the drum kit during Johanson’s opening sets on tour. For his second album, Below Sea Level (2020), Johanson teamed with producer Luther Dickinson, taking a darker, heavier creative turn that further established his willingness to push beyond genre confines.

Along the way, Johanson has toured extensively across the U.S. and Europe and shared stages with artists including The Record Company, North Mississippi Allstars, Samantha Fish, Tab Benoit and Anders Osborne. His work with Big Chief Monk Boudreaux received a Grammy nomination, connecting his own evolving sound to Louisiana’s living musical lineage.

Johanson has been named one of Guitar Player Magazine’s “25 Best New Blues Guitarists” and included by Total Guitar among the “Greatest Blues Guitarists of All Time.” But the guitar accolades tell only part of the story. With The Open Bayou, Johanson continues to carve out a space where songs, sound and improvisation meet - blues at the center, but with no fence around it.