MUSICIAN HERO:
JOHNNY HILAND
by Zachary from Fredericksburg

Johnny Hiland holding his Signature PRS guitar

To me, there are a lot of different traits that make a hero. These include being humble, nice, having a sense of humor, helping others, and making success out of an unlikely situation. Though no hero can have all the possible traits, I found many of them in the relatively unknown guitarist, Johnny Hiland.
Johnny Hiland was born in Woodland, Maine with a condition called nystagmus. This condition causes his eyes to move involuntarily and had him declared legally blind. He was a musical prodigy and started playing in the family band, the Three J’s, at age eight. Originally, he only listened to and played bluegrass, but when he saw Ricky Skaggs in concert, he was inspired to expand his listening to other styles. Throughout high school, he began listening to rock musicians like Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, and Eddie Van Halen.

After high school, he went to college to become a history teacher. His life was changed when he was studying one day. His books on tape didn’t come in, so he was forced to read. After straining his eyes for hours, he realized it wasn’t worth it and moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music.

Johnny Hiland playing at the Winter NAMM festival

During his first night in Nashville, he blew away a local band with his guitar playing. Soon he was getting calls to do session work for other artists. This is when he met his manager, Mac Wilson. Wilson got Hiland to play for Bruce Bolen, vice president of Fender Musical Instruments. Bolen was so impressed that he gave Hiland a full endorsement deal.

The cover of Johnny Hiland’s self-titled CD
Once again, Wilson fast forwarded Hiland’s career. He left an excerpt from one of Hiland’s tapes on Steve Vai’s voicemail. Soon after, Hiland was signed to the Favored Nations label.

Though many artists have made their way to fame this way, you have to remember that Hiland has been legally blind his whole life. He can’t drive; he can’t read anything unless it’s right in front of his face, and in some cases, he needs to be guided to a location. If this isn’t overcoming difficulty, I don’t know what is.

Most can only imagine what he had to go through in school. With other kids making fun of him, it is a wonder that his spirit wasn’t completely crushed. In an interview with Modern Guitars Magazine, he stated that the guitar was an emotional outlet and a security blanket for him.

Even though he gave up on being a history teacher, that doesn’t mean he gave up on being a teacher completely. Inspired by his own difficulties as a child, he made two guitar lesson DVDs, Chickin’ Pickin’ Volume 1 and Strictly Rhythm. As a child, he was unable to grasp concepts on guitar lesson videos, not only because he could not see what they were doing, but they didn’t slow down enough for him to grasp the concept. Also, as a regular part of his tours, he gives guitar clinics in colleges and guitar shops.

When he was not touring, teaching or playing, Hiland spent time writing and illustrating the children’s book, Tuff the Special Bear. He has said in his interview with Modern Guitars Magazine that Tuff is about inspiring kids to find music and to help handicapped kids believe in themselves.

“Music programs are diminishing in schools, I think it’s important that the kids find out just how inspirational it is to play music,” said Hiland.

You can’t judge everything on what you read on the Internet, though. However, in my case, I have actually met my hero. In person, he is exactly what you want your heroes to be like when you meet them. He is an incredibly nice person, despite all the people coming up to him throughout the day. He appreciates any compliment you give him and is very humble about his extraordinary abilities.

Johnny Hiland is a great hero in my opinion. His life shows me that dreams can come true. His amazing personality lets me know that there is still goodness in the world. He inspires me to keep trying. This is why Johnny Hiland is my hero.

Written by Zachary from Fredericksburg

RELATED LINKS

Johnny Hiland ’s website

American Nystagmus Network is a nonprofit organization established to serve the needs and interests of those affected by Nystagmus.

National Public Radio (NPR) Samples of Johnny Hiland’s music

Interview with BUG Magazine

Interview with Modern Guitars

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Demarco, Johnny. “Johnny Hiland Big BOSS Man.” [Online] Available http://www.bossus.com/bugonline/features.asp?art=hiland.

Messock, Rick. “Johnny Hiland Interview.” [Online] Available http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/001717.html.

author, unknown. “Johnny Hiland Bio.” [Online] Available http://www.johnnyhiland.com/index2.htm.

author, unknown. “Johnny Hiland.” [Online] Available http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Hiland.

While there are many that are commonly regarded as “great”, there are lots of others that don’t get as much attention.

Not too long ago, the editors of Guitar World magazine put together a reader’s poll, to find out what their readers considered to be the best guitar solos of all time. The results surely reflect the magazine’s demographic (no jazz guitar solos, for example), but no one can argue the following 100 selections boast some great guitar work.

What follows is the list of all 100 songs selected, listed with the guitarist who played the solo, the band who released the album, and the album name.

ALBUM SONG #

1.
song: Stairway to Heaven
guitarist: Jimmy Page
band: Led Zeppelin
album: Led Zeppelin IV
more: Stairway To Heaven solo details

2.
song: Eruption
guitarist: Eddie Van Halen
band: Van Halen
album: Van Halen
more: Eruption solo details

3.
song: Freebird
guitarist: Collins/Rossington
band: Lynyrd Skynyrd
album: Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd
more: Freebird solo details

4.
song: Comfortably Numb
guitarist: David Gilmour
band: Pink Floyd
album: The Wall
more: Comfortably Numb solo details

5.
song: All Along the Watchtower
guitarist: Jimi Hendrix
band: Jimi Hendrix Experience
album: Electric Ladyland

6.
song: November Rain
guitarist: Slash
band: Guns n’ Roses
album: Use Your Illusion I

7.
song: One
guitarist: Kirk Hammet
band: Metallica
album: And Justice for All

8.
song: Hotel California
guitarist: Don Felder/Joe Walsh
band: The Eagles
album: Hotel California

9.
song: Crazy Train
guitarist: Randy Rhoads
band: Ozzy Ozbourne
album: Blizzard of Ozz

10.
song: Crossroads
guitarist: Eric Clapton
band: Cream
album: Wheels of Fire

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John Denner

As well as all the usual great tuitional goodies such as song transcriptions and lessons from the world’s top teachers, July’s GT features a brilliant DVD that allows you to watch the action too. Satriani lesson Along with mag transcription of The Pretenders’ superb pop-rock classic Kid, with wonderful guitar playing from the lat James Honeyman-Scott,, we have a personal demonstration by Joe Satriani of his tapping masterpiece Midnight. So, a guitar lesson from Satch – who taught both Vai and Kirk Hammett! Hendrix Riffs Phil Hilborne demonstrates his top favourite Hendrix riffs on camera so you can see just how they’re played. Other DVD highlights… Martin Goulding’s Lick Of Doom – dare you try this rock monster? Blues with Jason Sidwell and Neville Marten – cool chords and tasty lead. Stuart Ryan shows the latest acoustic techniques using percussion and tapping. The amazing John Denner shows how perseverance and love of the guitar has led to him overcoming almost impossible physical odds to become an amazing player… And more… As usual, the rest of the magazine is packed with the world’s finest tuition with lessons on rock, blues, jazz, acoustic, reggae, bringing you literally hours of priceless tuition…> To subscribe to the world’s premier tuition-only guitar magazine go to http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk now…