Area singer-songwriter lives for playing live

By John Benson

Music as a way of life.

That’s exactly what 2006 Hubbard High School graduate Dennis Johnson is doing every waking second of his day. When he’s not working as a sales manager at Hubbard Music, the vocalist-guitarist can be found playing an open-mic night somewhere, anywhere, as singer-songwriter Denny London.

“Right now I’m currently writing stuff for my debut album that I will release this summer,” Johnson said. “It will actually be my first one. It’s going to be not just acoustic guitar and vocals, but it’ll have drums and piano. I did that just for like recording purposes to have a semi-full band with a little bit of percussion to spice up the album a bit. But when I play live, I’m just going to play solo.”

Formerly a member of alternative rock act London, Johnson said his first album, “The Entertainer,” varies in style.

So far he’s excited about songs such as the unique percussion-driven title track, the upbeat “Baby Can You Sleep at Night?” and the ballad “Something Sunday.” While it’s acoustic-based, Johnson describes his music as emo-influenced.

“My definition of emo is just putting emotion into lyrics, which is what I do,” Johnson said. “I feel if you’re writing, you should put emotion into your lyrics, or there is really no point of writing because you write to vent, and it’s like therapy for yourself.”

So far Johnson has concentrated his efforts into mainly playing around Northeast Ohio; however, as soon as “The Entertainer” is released, he’s hoping to expand his scope.

“I want to do a couple of minitours and stuff,” Johnson said. “Right now I’m kind of spreading out. My goal is to get out there and do something that a lot of people don’t get to do in their lives, which is like expressing themselves musically and hopefully meeting people who feel the same way.”

With that in mind, is the Youngs-town area a good place for a burgeoning singer-songwriter?

“It’s good for molding an artist,” Johnson said. “Like you can test-run a lot of stuff around here, but the drawback is if you’re playing a bar, people are mostly there to drink rather than listen to music.”

Johnson, who plays Saturday at the Bonfrog festival, said his set list includes “The Entertainer” material as well as a diverse range of covers from Rascal Flatts and Oasis, to tongue-in-cheek and playful tunes from Britney Spears and *Nysnc. So what does he sound like?

“Comparison-wise, I’ve gotten Chris Carrabba a couple of times,” Johnson said.

Considering the Dashboard Confessional lead singer is viewed as a sex symbol, does Johnson think he’s better looking than Carrabba?

“Definitely,” Johnson laughed. “I’m sure if you ask around you’ll get your answer.”