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Kevin Royal Johnson (born Nov. 21st, 1961) is an American guitarist, singer, and author living in Baltimore, Maryland. He is the founding member of the band Kevin Johnson and the Linemen.

Johnson is the author of two books, The Dark Page: Books That Inspired American Film Noir 1940-1949, and The Dark Page II: Books That Inspired American Film Noir 1950-1965.

Early life
Kevin Royal Johnson was raised and educated in Van Buren, Arkansas until the age of 10, when he moved to Little Rock, Arkansas where he lived until the age of 18. He attended Little Rock Central High School and then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend Vanderbilt University, where he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering in 1984.

Musical Career
Johnson began playing music as a solo performer while at Vanderbilt, and in 1984 moved to the Washington, DC area, where he played the pub circuit, most notably with singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter. He formed a band, The Revellaires, in 1987, releasing one record, entitled Pop of Ages.

In 1991 he formed Kevin Johnson and the Linemen with Eric Brace (who later went on to form Last Train Home), Antoine Sanfuentes, and Bill Williams. Between 1991 and 2001 the band released four records under Johnson's own SAM Records label, with new members Tony Flagg (bass) and Scott McKnight (guitar) replacing Brace and Williams in 1994, and adding James Key (mandolin) and Dave Giegerich (dobro, steel guitar).

Johnson's first album with the Linemen, Memphis for Breakfast, was recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, and produced by Grammy-nominated John Alagia, later known for his work with Dave Matthews, Liz Phair, and John Mayer. Johnson's second album, The Rest of Your Life, was again produced by John Alagia and designed by Jeff Nelson, co-founder of Dischord Records and drummer for Minor Threat. Johnson's third album with the Linemen, Parole Music, was produced by singer-songwriter Charlie Chesterman, formerly of Scruffy the Cat. The liner notes for Johnson's fourth album Sunday Driver, were written by author George P. Pelecanos. In 2001 Johnson took a break from music and started a rare book business in Baltimore.

In 2012, The Linemen reformed, adding Jonathan Gregg as a second lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and pedal steel guitarist, and with band alumni Scott McKnight (bass), Bill Williams (guitar, slide guitar, mandolin), and Antoine Sanfuentes (drums). In the fall of 2016 they released their first album, Close the Place Down, recorded by Andrew Taub at Brooklyn Recording and worked once again with John Alagia who mixed the record at Village Recorder in West Los Angeles.

Other musicians who have contributed to Johnson's recordings include Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bill Kirchen,  keyboardist Mookie Siegel of RatDog, Pete and Maura Kennedy of The Kennedys, drummer Rob Le Bourdais of Mother May I, singer-songwriter Barbara Brousal, guitarist Dave Chappell, saxophonist Chris Watling & singer-songwriter Alan MacEwen (of the Grandsons), pedal steel guitarist Dave Van Allen, and singer-songwriter Karl Straub (of the Graverobbers).

Johnson has performed (both solo and with the Linemen) on NPR's Mountain Stage as well as the 930 Club and the Birchmere.

Author
Johnson is the author of two books, The Dark Page: Books That Inspired American Film Noir 1940-1949, and The Dark Page II: Books That Inspired American Film Noir 1950-1965. The two books connect the American cinema of the noir genre with its published literary sources. The forewords to the two books were written by filmmakers Paul Schrader and Guy Maddin, respectively. Both books were published by the Oak Knoll Press in New Castle, Delaware.

Johnson today specializes in rare paper relating to cinema, and has lectured on the subject at the University of Virginia's Rare Book School. He is at work on a new book, The Celluloid Paper Trail: Identification of Scripts in American Cinema 1920-1979, to be published by the Oak Knoll Press in 2017.

The Revellaires

 * Pop of Ages (1987), Top Records

Kevin Johnson and the Linemen

 * Memphis for Breakfast (1991), SAM Records
 * The Rest of Your Life (1994), SAM Records
 * Parole Music (1997), SAM Records
 * Sunday Driver (2000), SAM Records
 * Various Artists Americana Motel (2001) - compilation on Bay Gumbo Music

The Linemen

 * Close the Place Down (2016), SAM Records