Biography
Johnny “Reverb” Holston moved to Amarillo in the late 1950’s from Gulfport, Mississippi USA with his parents. In Mississippi he learned some piano from his ‘Maw-Maw’; a pianist in a tiny clapboard Baptist Church and she also taught lessons.
In Amarillo, Johnny got the Rock N Roll bug when his uncle Derb came to stay with us after he got out of the Navy. He was recording at Ray Ruffs’ studio back in the day and had made an acetate demo. Uncle Derb also had a tiny tape recorder. Johnny used to sneak it out of his closet and record himself vocally imitating an electric guitar on it when he was gone.
His Dad had an electric guitar and amp at his house in Louisiana, he learned as much as he could and within a year was trying to start a band.
Johnny ran into schoolmate Nick Tyson and they hit it off really well. They both had kindred spirits, similar talent level, and both discovered a fondness for music, beer and girls. They started a band and played at the YMCA and The Scene on Amarillo Blvd. and in surrounding towns like Perryton, Muleshoe, Spearman, Dumas, Hereford etc. During this time they got to know Randy Tupin who shared our new hobbies.
After high school I went to the Atlanta Pop Festival and saw Jimi Hendrix and the original Allman Brothers.
He stayed in the Capitol City for 28 years. His first band there was with some other guys from Amarillo namely Roger Crabtree, Phillip Fajardo, Glen Wilbanks and Pasha (Randall Alsup). They played at the now defunct One Knite Club on Red River.
A couple years later , Johnny had the fortune to join the Milton Carroll band. Milton had moved to Austin from New York and had 2 more records left on his 3 record deal with RCA. His very first recording sessions were with Milton. Together they opened a lot of shows for Jerry Jeff Walker and even got to hang around with Jerry and his guitarist John Inman a lot. They were fortunate to have the late great Jimmy Day come play with them most of the time..
At the peak of Johnny’s career, he was in a Reggae band called The Lotions. They played all over the USA and shared the same booking agency as Stevie Ray Vaughan so they did some gigs with him. In fact, The Lotions and a few other Austin bands were neck and neck to be the next big thing.
Johnny did a short stint with the local CBS Songs affiliate Serendipity Music and thought for sure one of his songs was going to be a big hit.
So up next was Parenthood, and not the TV series, but the real thing. So Johnny got out of the Music business to be a Daddy. He did manage a short run in the 1990’s going to France and Eastern Europe doing the Blues , and that was picking up steam but personal issues prevented him from keeping that going.
Some time later, he ended up back in Amarillo to work for old pal Randy Tupin and hang out with Nick Tyson. He’s still slinging a guitar and also fixing guitars at the local Guitar Center.
In Amarillo, Johnny got the Rock N Roll bug when his uncle Derb came to stay with us after he got out of the Navy. He was recording at Ray Ruffs’ studio back in the day and had made an acetate demo. Uncle Derb also had a tiny tape recorder. Johnny used to sneak it out of his closet and record himself vocally imitating an electric guitar on it when he was gone.
His Dad had an electric guitar and amp at his house in Louisiana, he learned as much as he could and within a year was trying to start a band.
Johnny ran into schoolmate Nick Tyson and they hit it off really well. They both had kindred spirits, similar talent level, and both discovered a fondness for music, beer and girls. They started a band and played at the YMCA and The Scene on Amarillo Blvd. and in surrounding towns like Perryton, Muleshoe, Spearman, Dumas, Hereford etc. During this time they got to know Randy Tupin who shared our new hobbies.
After high school I went to the Atlanta Pop Festival and saw Jimi Hendrix and the original Allman Brothers.
He stayed in the Capitol City for 28 years. His first band there was with some other guys from Amarillo namely Roger Crabtree, Phillip Fajardo, Glen Wilbanks and Pasha (Randall Alsup). They played at the now defunct One Knite Club on Red River.
A couple years later , Johnny had the fortune to join the Milton Carroll band. Milton had moved to Austin from New York and had 2 more records left on his 3 record deal with RCA. His very first recording sessions were with Milton. Together they opened a lot of shows for Jerry Jeff Walker and even got to hang around with Jerry and his guitarist John Inman a lot. They were fortunate to have the late great Jimmy Day come play with them most of the time..
At the peak of Johnny’s career, he was in a Reggae band called The Lotions. They played all over the USA and shared the same booking agency as Stevie Ray Vaughan so they did some gigs with him. In fact, The Lotions and a few other Austin bands were neck and neck to be the next big thing.
Johnny did a short stint with the local CBS Songs affiliate Serendipity Music and thought for sure one of his songs was going to be a big hit.
So up next was Parenthood, and not the TV series, but the real thing. So Johnny got out of the Music business to be a Daddy. He did manage a short run in the 1990’s going to France and Eastern Europe doing the Blues , and that was picking up steam but personal issues prevented him from keeping that going.
Some time later, he ended up back in Amarillo to work for old pal Randy Tupin and hang out with Nick Tyson. He’s still slinging a guitar and also fixing guitars at the local Guitar Center.