Two Doors Down Maryville, TN September 8th
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Johnny began his journey in a world of music at age 7 with weekly piano lessons. Additionally he started playing the saxophone and guitar in middle school and in high school began arranging music for the marching and concert bands. Eventually, composing and recording his own music prevailed through his last couple of years of high school as he released a short EP of progressive rock compositions while practicing and developing his own techniques on guitar. In the same year, Newman auditioned for the University of Tennessee’s School of Music and was accepted to begin his freshman year as a Studio Music & Jazz major. After a year of studying jazz guitar under Mark Boling and Larry Vincent, Johnny found his interests to remain stronger in composition and recording. Shortly thereafter, he joined the composition studio and composed much music for various instruments and ensembles while shifting his focus to electronic composition, sound art, and multimedia. In 2007, Newman released his first full length album Progressing Deviation, a unique blend of symphonic rock and experimental electronica. Earlier in the year, “Lights Out” for guitar and digital recording was debuted at the University of Tennessee’s Music from the Living concert. Additionally, in the following October, Newman was featured in a two page article in the Knoxville News Sentinel about his compositions on his album in addition to his unique composition textures, and upcoming plans as a composer. Coming off a fantastic year for his compositions, Newman was graced by Garageband.com to have an unreleased track, “Thanks Ben,” reach the top 100 on the experimental electronica charts and receive an award for ‘Track of the Day.’ In that subsequent spring, Johnny presented a well-received multimedia project for the composition “Babylonian Neon” at the 2008 Music from the Living concert. In continuing his endeavors as a primarily electronic composer, Newman currently continues to study electronic composition under the direction of Dr. Kenneth Jacobs and sound art with audio engineering master Seva. Furthermore, work continues on the next Aeolian Jazz album, due in 2009, and with progressive rock trio, Triptych. |
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Art Works: Progressing Deviation (2007)
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