“Take the inventiveness of Bob Dylan, the melodic voice of John Denver, add the showmanship of Garrison Keillor … and that’s Michael Johnathon.” – Bob Spear , Publisher, HEARTLAND REVIEW
WATCH THE 2025 AWARDS VIDEO (6-Minutes)
Brand New – MyCOVERS album, order now! CLICK HERE
NEW! The BALLAD OF ELON MUSK satire folk song CLICK HERE
Watch the 4-minute biography clip produced by Kentucky Tourism and the Kentucky Arts Council on Michael Johnathon’s work and career: CLICK HERE
My Tribute to Pete .To acknowledge the great work, music and influence of Pete & Toshi Seeger, I now add the banjo to my signature. Read why click here
Michael’s 20th album release, Garden of Silence
GARDEN OF SILENCE It starts with a song about the day Van Gogh passed away and concludes with a tribute to folksingers everywhere. On the journey between those two musical bookends are songs about Thoreau (Winter Song) the spirit of the front porch (Front Porch Symphony) Narcissism (Narcissistic Blues) dancing with your lover (September Eve) a tribute to Pete Seeger (Seeger Mashup) and the banjo-driven instrumental about the fragrant scent of earth following a rain fall (Petrichor) He composed ten of the eleven songs and produced all, his Martin guitar and long neck banjo are dominant throughout textured with string quartets, Gazebo horn sections, piano and more.
READ how Michael is helping reshape the world of music & art click here
MJ receives the prestigious Milner Award for the Arts click here
MJ’s Bio
Few have elevated “dreaming” to such a high art-form as folksinger Michael Johnathon. He is riding a successful career as a recording artist and touring songwriter with 23 albums, playwright, opera composer, front porch community organizer, as the creator and host of the live audience broadcast of the “WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour” with a radio audience with over two million listeners each week on 537 public radio stations, public television coast-to-coast, American Forces Radio Network in 173 nations and on the RFD-TV Network nationwide. His live album recorded with a 51 piece symphony orchestra called SONGS OF RURAL AMERICA is airing nationwide on Public Television and the RFD-TV Network. Michael recently collected and gifted over 1800 instruments for the musicians on Helene in North Carolina. His concerts are full of passionate songs celebrating the spirit of America’s front porch, funny and often moving stories, as he performs with his Martin guitar and long neck Vega banjo. More information: Michael Johnathon.com, WoodSongs.com, WaldenPlay.org, WoodyGuthrieOpera.com, SongFarmers.org, WoodSongsKids.org and CaneyCreekMovie.comVisit our websites: WoodSongs.com WoodSongsKids.org WaldenPlay.com WoodyGuthrieOpera.com SongFarmers.org CaneyCreekMovie.com
_
The WOODSONGS 176-page Book & CD series 1-5 plus Mousie HiWay are now available as eBOOK. Visit KOBO.com and put “WoodSongs” in the search bar
_
NEW! Available now, order your copy today!
WoodSongs 5: A Folksingers Compendium & Van Gogh Reader
The next volume in the popular WoodSongs Book & CD Series. 176 pages, full color plus the Painter CD album. MEDIA Review copies available in September. Hard copy and digital/Kindle versions available: ORDER now click here
“The WoodSongs 5 book is for the “creatives,” those who birth into reality what the mind says does not exist. They are the poets, painters, dreamers and time travelers, world-wanderers and highway vagabonds, rail riders and drifters. They dream what is unseen so others can appreciate what has been created. They are 5-string politicians, 6-string therapists, banjo barristers, acoustic lovers and penny-pinching peacemakers … because those who sing together can not fight. They are still there. Still writing, searching, singing, trying to get this world in tune.”
FREE for all new and renewing WoodSongs Partners!
READ THE EARLY REVIEWS: CLICK HERE
Order the 3 CD pak – the new GARDEN OF SILENCE, THE PAINTER plus the SONGS OF RURAL AMERICA symphony concert album. All three for $25 post paid (USA)new “Legacy” album and get the “Songs of Rural America” symphony CD for FREE … $20 post paid in the USA
_