Johnny Bartee was born in the town of Victoria, Texas in 1957. Growing
up in Corpus Christi, he quickly became one of the hottest local
teenage guitarists in the early 1970s. Playing a 1973 Fender Strat
through a Fender Twin Reverb was the start of his trademark sound.
During this time he was able to understudy with former Warner/Elektra
Recording Artist John Campbell (now deceased). They hung out together
playing music in road house beer joints, shootin' dice and chasing
women, living on the dark side, on The Edge. This was a great
experience for Johnny, learning the life, feel, and fundamentals of The
Blues from a great practitioner and teacher.
After moving to Austin, Texas in the late 1970s, Johnny was able to
perform with various soon to be famous and not so famous artists.
Songwriting, rehearsal and recording became the primary focus of his
efforts. In the 1980s he wrote and performed with a band known as
Economy, then with Big Bad Wuff, a three piece Blues band which quickly
evolved into The Johnny Bartee Band. Performing the 6th Street club
scene in Austin in the early 1990s paved the way for a three year
detour to the Pacific Northwest where he performed with a six piece
group in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho known as The Ozmo Boogie Band, opening
for such acts as Canned Heat. He also performed with the band Slight
Return at various music festivals and nightclubs in the region. In
addition, he performed a duo act with Jim "The Bossman" Brown at
nightclubs in Idaho and Washington.
In 1997 Johnny recorded his first solo CD, "All Of Me" at Jello Tree
Studios in Spokane, Washington. Recorded and mixed by New York's John
Salvo, the nine song CD has the nice fat sound of analog recording and
highlights Johnny's incredible versatility on various instruments, his
songwriting ability, as well as his crystal clear vocals. The CD is
original smokin' Texas BluesRock, bad to the bone and hot as a two
dollar pistol.
In 1998 Johnny returned home to Texas to live and perform, settling
west of Austin in the pristine Hill Country town of Lakeway. During
1999 there where many ups and downs. He was married (his first!) to his
childhood sweetheart Lynn Wooten, whom he hadn't seen in thirty years.
Shortly thereafter he had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. He also
had to put Fay Bartee, aka MOM, in the hospital for Congestive Heart
Failure. Band members had to be replaced and gigging slowed to a crawl.
Despite it all he continued performing full speed ahead in the Central
Texas area with various bands and musicians.
During 2000 Johnny released two music CDs, 'Razorblade Energy' and
'Acoustic Johnny' - both Pop/Rock ventures. He performed 52 shows
throughout Texas at clubs and Festivals. He also got involved in
Feature Films and has performed in eight major motion pictures, working
alongside some of the biggest names in the business. He appears in Miss
Congeniality, The New Guy (2002) and American Outlaws (2001). Five other movies have yet to be
released, so we'll have to wait and see if he appears in those.
In 2001 Johnny performed in seven Independent DV Film projects and
worked on the production side of filmmaking in various capacities
including Grip, PA, Lighting Director, and 1st Assistant Director. For
2002 Johnny will be releasing his fourth CD project, 'Got Damn Blues',
recorded at Cow Dog Studios in Briarcliff, Texas. His work in feature
films will continue with Independent and Major motion picture
appearances, as well as production work as 1st Assistant Director in
several films.
