Virtuoso guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, Johnny Bruhns began his musical education growing up in his native Philadelphia. His mother Catherine, a director of choirs and musicals, imparted her knowledge of vocal technique and music theory to him. Johnny also gains his instrumental prowess from his father’s side of the family as a descendant of classical composer, Nicholas Bruhns, who became an important influence on J.S. Bach. A well known musical force in the Southwest United States, Johnny has performed with many great musicians including Nick D’Virgilio (Spock’s Beard, Tears For Fears, Genesis), Ronnie Ciago (Patrick Moraz, Jaco Pastorius), and Eric Marienthal (Chick Corea), to  name a few.
A veteran of the Southern California Tribute scene, Johnny has played keyboards, bass, guitars and mandolin for several tribute shows from Neil Diamond to Pat Benatar, and currently portrays John Paul Jones in Led-Zepplica. As the bandleader for Roundabout – The American Yes Tribute, Johnny wowed audiences with his energetic note-perfect renditions of all eras of Yes’ guitarists. In 2008, having caught the attention of the Yes organization for his guitar work in Roundabout, he was called to fill in for Steve Howe while the premier progressive rock group were rehearsing in Los Angeles for their upcoming In The Present tour. It was during this period that Johnny also developed a friendship with Yes veterans Billy Sherwood and Tony Kaye. When Billy and Tony found a need for a new guitarist for their side project YOSO, they made the call to Johnny. Johnny had begun recording with the Tennessee-based progressive rock group Glass Hammer at the time, but made the decision to join up with two of his favorite musicians and toured with YOSO on their Elements World Tour. Johnny is now a member of the Post-Yes progressive rock group “Circa,” and is featured on the new Circa studio release, And So On.
Johnny started out with a very inexpensive but well built guitar from Rondo Music and the purpose of the guitar was to get a sound that was close to what Trevor Rabin did with “Owner of A Lonely Heart” on Yes’ 90125 album. For Johnny’s Yes Tribute band, he wanted to not only play the correct notes but nail the sound and tone. While the guitar played well, it just didn’t have very good pickups. Roundabout – The American Yes Tribute was nearing an end so Johnny didn’t get around to changing the pickups. Then the phone call from Billy Sherwood asking Johnny to join YOSO on the Elements World Tour changed everything.  It became evident that this guitar would be great if the pickups were changed, because of its versatility with the HSH configuration. Johnny went to the Seymour Duncan website and found the Tone Chart and Sound Bytes very helpful. Paul Stebner, Johnny’s guitar tech  suggested he put in push-pull pots after some conversation about doing all eras of Yes’ music. Johnny decided on series wiring for the HH configuration, and an SS configuration for the neck pickup. This way he had eleven different pickup configurations. Imagine the versatility! Now that Johnny is also the guitarist for Circa, Seymour Duncan is his preferred pickup. We caught up with Johnny and asked him a couple of questions.

SD: Which pickups do you use and for which guitars?
Johnny: So for the two Douglas WRK590s, I purchased the Alnico Pro II’s for the bridge position, Classic Stack Pluses for the middle position, and Jazz Models for the neck position. I also now use the JB Model in the bridge position of my 2004 Gibson ES 137 Classic, and a Little ’59 in my Fender ’55 Studio Deluxe Steel Guitar, and again, Paul Stebner put in a push-pull pot to give me the humbucker and SS configurations on the Fender. I feel like I have two different steel guitars now! All of these mods were dramatic improvements and with the ability to tap the pickups, my versatility is multiplied over and over.

SD: What is the advantage of your Seymour Duncan pickups?
Johnny: Clearer, more articulate and powerful tone, which is more critical the more I’m heard. It’s kind of a “Catch 22” of sorts. Bottom line is, they are helping me achieve a sound that supports the way I play and the way I feel when I’m performing.  That’s what you’d call “priceless,” you know, when you’re playing well on stage and you really feel it, the audience feels it too.  That’s the advantage hands down. Playing with these pickups has given me more confidence, and for instance, I might hold a bend longer, milking it, knowing I have the sustain, and best tonal response. I also love it when I get compliments on my tone. Tony Kaye told me, “The guitar just sounds really good!” Hearing that from Tony meant a lot to me. I love my Seymour Duncan pickups. The humbucker sound is so smooth and warm.
If you like Contemporary Neo Classic Progressive Rock, you’ll love Circa. Circa was formed in 2006 by veteran Yes rockers Tony Kaye, Billy Sherwood and Alan White with Jimmy Haun on guitars. Jay Shellen (John Payne’s Asia) was featured on the second studio release, Circa HQ. The third studio album And So On has just been released and features Johnny Bruhns on guitars and vocals, and Ronnie Ciago (Brand X, Jaco Pastorius, etc.) on drums.
You can catch Circa live September 3rd at Mexicali Prog, September 4th in Ensenada with more dates coming! Look for concert dates coming soon on the Circa website.
And for more about Johnny, check out his Facebook or Circa’s YouTube channel.