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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.
