Songwriter and virtuoso electric bass player Johnnie Gilmore (Ep 189)

Johnnie Gilmore is a songwriter and bass player of virtuoso caliber. He honed his chops and stage craft in part as a street performer in his hometown of Boston. L.A. is now home for Johnnie. He has a great EP out called When You Come Home. In this episode we talk about how the EP came together amidst the pandemic.

Johnnie was brought to my attention by Zoe Sonnenberg (featured in episode 180). At the time of our conversation, Oct 2020, the pandemic was nearing its peak crisis status in the Los Angeles area, and his EP was newly released. He shares some of the ways in which this time period changed his career and life trajectory.

Hear Johnnie’s EP When You Come Home at JohnnieGilmore.com.

Johnnie also shares his recent experience going from performing live to taking requests on Instagram. It was on one of the Instagram request hours that Zoe Sonnenberg’s mom heard him play After the Gold Rush and consequently how Zoe learned of his work. Johnnie had also lost both of his grandparents to COVID on his mother’s side, at the time of our conversation, which lead us to discuss the oddity of dealing with loss during the pandemic.

The songs on When You Come Home  were recorded in April and May of 2020, and were intended to be part of a full length album. Johnnie thought he would record that album in the fall of 2020, but as life changed so did Johnnie’s plans for this collection of songs.

Please enjoy this conversation with the me and the talented Johnny Gilmore.

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