Kurt Johnson is a multi-instrumentalist performer, composer, session musician, and educator based in Rochester, New York. Currently, he can be found performing with: Rounder Records recording artist Mikaela Davis & Southern Star; the long-standing instrumental trio, The Moho Collective; and his singer/songwriter project, The Wallboards. 

 

  He was a founding member of the psych-rock band, Maybird, and with them was a Columbia Records recording artist under Grammy Award winning producer Danger Mouse's label, 30th Century Records, from 2015-2019. Kurt is also a founding member of Paradise, Uganda, a cross-cultural collaboration that benefits homeless youth in Kampala, Uganda. 

​

  Kurt has worked with Grammy Award winning drummer and producer Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, Grammy Award winning producer Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) and Dana Colley of Morphine, most notably. As a seasoned performer, he has toured and shared the stage with Lake Street Dive, The Gipsy Kings, Portugal. the Man, Circles Around the Sun, Marco Benevento, Jason Crosby, The Babe Rainbow, Bat McGrath, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad and many more. 

​

  Having been teaching multidisciplinary music privately for nearly a decade, Kurt was a founding faculty member at the Rochester Contemporary School of Music. He has also augmented many local music programs as a guest instructor. Throughout his years of teaching, he continues to be a dedicated student of contemporary, traditional, and ethnic music and has studied with musical giants such as Ali Akbar Khan, David Liebman, Tony Trischka, Musekiwa Chingodza, David Baker, Gordon Stone, Bob Sneider, and many more.

​

Check out Kurt’s past and current projects and session work

 

Interested in studying with Kurt? He’s now offering Zoom lessons