I am big fan of the band Damone. If you don’t know about them, they are from Boston and they made a few great records between 2003 and 2008. They recently played a reunion show and the opening slot went to Boston locals Carissa Johnson & the Cure-All’s. I looked up Carissa Johnson on YouTube figuring that anyone who gets to open for Damone must have some redeeming qualities. Well, that was a very good decision on my part. Carissa and her band made killer records in 2015, 2016 & 2018 and released a couple of really good singles in 2019.
At the end of 2019 Carissa released an acoustic record called A Hundred Restless Thoughts. It is a thing of beauty. While I generally want to hear driving electric guitars in just about everything, Carissa managed to create a brilliant record in the acoustic realm. I have been listening to it non-stop. Early this year, she announced a small tour to support the record. I was hopeful that she might get close enough to Virginia for me to go to see her. There ended up only being something like ten dates, but I lucked out. She included Richmond, VA, two hours from my house. The show was on a Thursday night at a little spot called the Garden Grove Brewing Company & Urban Winery.
My beautiful wife and I figured we would make an evening of it, so we booked a hotel and made a dinner reservation. The venue doesn’t even sell advance tickets, and I wasn’t sure how many people would really know Carissa Johnson. I didn’t know what to expect. We got to the Garden Grove a little early and there were quite a few people there, but we were able to get a space really close to the stage. Carissa came out, set up her merch table, got herself a stool, set up a mic and grabbed her guitar. This was a one-woman tour for sure, although she had a lady with her that we later learned was her Mom.
By the time the set was ready to start there were a number of mostly uninterested people in back and at the bar, and three guys from a band that was slated to play later in the evening that were paying attention. Other than that it was pretty much just the two of us. I guess happy hour was ending, as the place got more empty as the night went on. My wife and I remained right up front. Carissa played two sets, twelve songs each. She was fantastic. Between sets I bought a vinyl 45 and after signing it, Carissa introduced us to her Mom and we hung out and talked about how we came to be there, how the tour was going and where she was headed next, and most fun of all, we talked a little about the Boston music scene. Carissa was super gracious and really nice to talk to. At one point she texted Noelle, vocalist and guitarist for Damone, and told her about how her two fans in Virginia had come to exist thanks to Damone.
If you have read this far, then you owe it to yourself to check out Carissa Johnson. Buy her records, go see her play if you ever get the opportunity. Look up her Facebook page and Paypal her a few bucks to help with the tour. It astounds me how someone who writes such good songs and plays & sings so well can remain so relatively unknown. I completely understand that there are thousands of amazing artists that no one has ever heard of, but when I see one as good as Carissa, I just want to find a way to share it with the world. Good luck Carissa Johnson. I hope you make it back to Virginia again, maybe with a full band next time. Keep on rockin’. - JCE
A beautifully packaged vinyl 45, and the set-list.
Carissa Johnson, acoustic in Richmond, VA.
Carissa Johnson, left, with JCE and his wife.
Good photo - from the internet, not mine.