John Hart, a MiltonHigh School graduate who began learning guitar from Nathan Black at A Joyful Noise Music Store, released his first album, Frisson, August 20 at Vinyl Music Hall in Pensacola, a free show. Hart was kind enough to stop by the Press Gazette and share a little bit of history, the thinking behind Frisson, and a look at the future.
B. B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Duane Allman, and John Mayer form the palette of Hart’s art.
Hart’s building blocks in music began on the piano between the ages of five and ten years old. He said it was tough to learn at the time with challenging classical pieces for lesson material. Soon after, he met Nathan Black at ChristianLifeChurch and started taking guitar lessons from him at A Joyful Noise.
Hart’s next milestone was the opportunity to meet musicians when he took a job cooking at Paradise Bar and Grill on PensacolaBeach. There he met legendary slide guitarist Sauce Boss. Hart said, “He cooks gumbo while he plays,” and then serves his food for free. Wharton, Hart said, travels to homeless shelters and performs and feeds people. Hart toured with Wharton for three years from Toronto to the Florida Keys. Hart said previously he only thought of himself and how far he wanted to go with his music career. “Bill opened my eyes to how music can help people.”
Following this new path, Hart said he wants to use his music for good and not necessarily aim for fame and fortune. “Right now I’m working on becoming a regional act,” he said.
The album, now a month out, is a collection of nine songs Hart wrote, some in moments of inspiration and others over a painstaking amount of time. “Before It’s Gone I played and sang and it just stuck. My Heart took two years. It was a lot of trial and error,” he said.
The album’s name, Frisson, is a French word relating to the sensation of getting goose bumps, or heightened excitement. “I experience that sensation on a regular basis and I didn’t know the word.” The feeling, he said, is what he wants others to feel when they listen to his music.
With the release of his first record, Hart finds himself in the place of seeing “a lot of opportunity…I feel like I’m on an epic journey (and) I can start making my own decisions, my own path…I feel like everything I’ve done has led up to this.”
Hart has both studio work and shows in mind for the immediate future. “I’ve got a bunch of songs ready, a whole album.” He said the next album will be recognizable as his with the “same flavors but it will sound nothing like (Frisson),” noting it will have a lot of high energy tunes.
While unable to give specifics, Hart said he’s feeling it’s time to tour and will announce dates soon. Find Frisson on iTunes, Spotify, the Google Play Store, and Amazon for $8.91. Keep up with John Hart on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Soundcloud under John Hart Project. He also has his own website at johnhartproject.com with a calendar of shows, images, blog, contact field, and store with the album and other items.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton musician takes first steps on epic journey