#eltonjohn

What does fifty-five years as Elton John’s guitarist get you? A life beyond imagination. And Davey Johnstone generously, graciously, and warmly shared a bounty of highlights with us. It was almost as fun listening to his stories as it must have been living them. Well… almost. 

From his modest family beginnings in Edinburgh, Scotland, what they had in abundance was love. Starting out playing viola, The Beatles soon led him to guitar and a groovy jacket. Great story there. Barely out of his teens, he made his way to London, knowing he had to be there to realize his dream. There was no Plan B.  

Playing on Bernie Taupin’s 1971 solo album, and from there on Elton’s Madman Across the Water,  Davey was then invited to join the band. His debut album as a full-time member of Elton’s band was Honky Chateau, on which he played electric, acoustic, and slide guitars, banjo, mandolin, and sang backing vocals. From there, he became an irreplaceable necessity and soon after Elton’s musical director. 

Davey shared a goosebump-thrilling John Lennon story and a thrilling Pete Townshend memory. We got Davey’s take on Donovan, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Hendrix, John Bonham, Joni Mitchell and many others. 

We talked about the pandemic and how COVID impacted their Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, where we first met, in London, when Davey was in the throes of the illness. And how now, 8 years after its start, the tour will pick up again for a few dates in Mexico and South America where they didn’t get to say goodbye. 

Long married, the father of seven, we talked about family and parenting. How the constantly touring Davey managed to stay close to his wife and kids. He also shared a heart-wrenching story of his son, Oliver, and in doing so honored him as he does every day. 

The pandemic allowed time for him to make music with his children, all creatives, and together, they created a brilliant solo album, Deeper Than My Roots. Davey’s daughter Juliet, designer of cult-favorite hand-painted carpenter pants, and sons Charlie, Jesse, and Tam, all helped Davey create the album, whilst his youngest son Elliot sang lead vocals on the tracks, garnering praise from Elton himself. The apples don’t fall far… 

On this very day, Sir Elton is celebrating 36 years clean and sober. Davey credits Elton with being his eskimo. There’s a lot to celebrate in this man’s life, and none of it is lost on him. And gives back. Friend and mentor to our friend, Adam Chester, twenty years ago he changed talented young Adam’s life, making him Elton’s rehearsal stand-in. Making both their lives easier and Adam’s a whole lot richer. 

I’ve always been grateful for Davey’s music, the unforgettable iconic riffs that lace Elton’s songs; now I’m thankful for this wonderful time spent with a man as glorious as his talent. Long may he play! 

Davey Johnstone Live on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson

Wed, July 29, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET

Streamed Live on my FB, YouTube & LinkedIn

YouTube

FB

Elton John’s Guitar Man for 5 + Decades: Davey Johnstone!

How could a 20-year-old Edinburgh guitarist, Davey Johnstone, know that playing on Bernie Taupin’s 1971 solo album would alter his life exponentially and forever? Playing on Elton’s 1971 Madman Across the Water, Davy was invited to join Elton’s band as a full member. Davey’s debut album as a full-time member with John's band was the 1972 Honky Chateau, on which he played electric and acoustic guitars, slide guitar, banjo, and mandolin, and also sang backing vocals.

Even while playing alongside Stevie Nicks, Bob Seeger, Meat Loaf and Alice Cooper during the early 80s, Davey was never far from Elton’s projects. Following his reunion with original bandmates Nigel Olsson and Dee Murray full-time for 1982's Jump Up tour, Davey has rarely been absent from an Elton John album track or tour.

On 1 October 2019, Davey performed his 3,000th show with Elton at the first of two Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour stops in Saskatchewan. On 25 June 2023, Johnstone performed with Elton at the Glastonbury Festival. The set was one of the headline acts and was billed as John's last live UK performance. Fortunately for all of us, Elton’s still active! He announced a pair of final farewell performances, three years after concluding his worldwide farewell tour. The new concerts, scheduled for Oct. 2 and 3 in Mexico City, mark Elton’s first performances in the country in 14 years. Elton has performed 23 shows since his farewell tour ended, including six so far this year. Some have been traditional concerts, while others have been private events or charity fundraisers. Great news for fans, and for our friend, Adam Chester, and new friend, Davey Johnstone. 

Our paths have crossed a couple of times before… Snuffy and I were staying at the same London hotel as the band when Elton was performing his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour at The O2 Arena in April 2023. We breakfasted daily with keyboardist Kim Bullard, who has a long history with Snuffy, but Davey was isolating with a nasty cold. We managed a few quick hellos on his tea runs. We met the next year again at Kim’s Christmas party, but I was too overwhelmed by all the rock guitar greatness in the room to speak. 

The aforementioned Adam Chester shared warm and inspiring stories about Davey, who has mentored and supported him through the last two decades, changing his life by opening the door to Sir Elton. 

Long married, the father of seven, the Johnstone’s offspring are all creatives, and together, created a brilliant solo album. Davey’s daughter Juliet, designer of her cult-favorite hand-painted carpenter pants, and sons Charlie, Jesse, and Tam, all helped Davey create the album, whilst his youngest son Elliot sang lead vocals on the tracks. The apples don’t fall far… 

I can’t wait to get to know this wildly talented, fashion-forward, genuinely lovely human, whose riffs have become a part of our musical lexicon.

Davey Johnstone Live on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson

Wed, July 29, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET

Streaming Live on my FB, YouTube & LinkedIn

FB

facebook.com/vickiabelson

YouTube

If there’s anyone more entertaining than Adam Chester, please tell me so I can book them now! What a fabulous, fun, afternoon ride! Other than a tech glitch (lost internet for 5 min - which caused this to have a Part 1 and Part 2), this was as close to perfection as a sit-down could be. 

We got current events; he’s on vocal rest due to a minor health issue, so Adam performed an instrumental with full virtuoso gusto and talked for a good hour and a quarter, also with total fervor. Shhh, don’t tell his ENT. 

In Part 1, we got Adam’s backstory, which manifested into his life’s headlines. The author of S’Mother held up his mother (hysterical, dark sight gag), who started him on the keys at 3 and got him an upright at 5. Adam walked us into his son Truman’s room to share his first instrument, which he’s moved cross-country and from state to state. Nothing like a good show and tell. 

We got delicious juicy bits about Adam’s year or so with Barry White, a decision Adam still questions, his piano teacher, Jeff, his manager, Paul, and his life-changing friend and mentor, Davey Johnstone, who opened the door to Sir Elton, a gig still in action, more than 20 years later, post Elton’s retirement, filled with pinch moments and living the dream realities. Adam’s stories about it all are precious, humble, moving, and hysterical. 

We get the beginning of his Joni Mitchell connection in Part 1, picked up and furthered to greater heights in Part 2, along with a fabulous Miley Cyrus story, and my s’mother nag for Adam to start doing his thing at his regular Georgian Hotel gig in Santa Monica on Wednesdays, 6-9 pm, where historically he plays, sans vocals and his ridiculously entertaining banter. Vocal rest be damned! You can’t keep the unique genius that is Adam down. One shouldn’t!

I could not have had more fun, or loved this (both Parts) more! 

How dare my internet go down before we were through! Sorry, Adam, sorry, ya’ll! 

Adam Chester Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Wed, July 8, 3 pm PT, 6 pm ET

Streamed Live on my FB, YouTube & LinkedIn

FB Part 1 

YouTube Part 1 

FB Part 2 

YouTube Part 2

Today LIVE with Adam Chester, The Sir-O-Gate Elton John! **SPECIAL TIME 3PM PT**

Ridiculously talented in his own right, pianist, vocalist, composer, songwriter, and entertainer, Adam launched his career alongside Barry White. Still, his most celebrated role began nearly two decades ago: becoming Sir Elton John’s official band stand-in. Adam steps in for Elton during rehearsals and select live events, including Elton’s historic final U.S. Dodger Stadium concert in 2022 and the PBS Library of Congress Gershwin Prize ceremony in 2024. He also crafts and conducts the choir arrangements for Elton’s productions. He’s known as the Surrogate Elton John. So Sur Elton. 

Adam’s played alongside Joni Mitchell, Brandi Carlile, Garth Brooks, Miley Cyrus, and Paul Anka, and he’s a favorite performer at Kate Hudson’s annual Christmas celebrations.

Appearing at the Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica every Wednesday from 6 PM to 9 PM, Adam plays piano in their speakeasy where Dick Van Dyke got his start back in 1947. 

Adam tore down my living room at one of the last Women Who Write Literary Salons, opening for a guy named Snuffy, and Loren Gold, keyboardist for Rush and The Who. Adam, a force onstage. is always a tough act to follow. He’s an audience and personal favorite. I look so forward to catching up! 

Adam Chester Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Wed, July 8, 3 pm PT, 6 pm ET

Streaming Live on my FB, YouTube & LinkedIn

facebook.com/vickiabelson

Daily by Toni Vincent

YouTube

There are more facets to Cidney Bullens than there are to the Hope Diamond… and they’re all fascinating!  The two-time Grammy nominee, who sang with Elton John and Bob Dylan, tells how and why he chose to tour with Elton and pass on Dylan. What a choice for a young rocker from Massachusetts to have to make. How he met Sir Elton, and how a momentary encounter led to the gig and friendship of a lifetime, and how youth, and addiction cost him said gig two plus years later. The friendship has endured all these decades. Sobering up in his early 20s, having already had extraordinary success, and then singing with Rod Stewart, long-time pal, Bonnie Raitt, and Don Everly, to name but a few, singing lead on three songs on the 8x platinum-selling Grease soundtrack, earning his first Grammy nod, and his second for Survivor off his first solo album, Desire Wire. He left the biz for a decade to raise a family, then returned with more solo work and formed The Reugees with Wendy Waldman and Deborah Holland. Soon after, Cindy became Cidny. That’s a story… woven throughout his whole story. 

Cid told the story in his one-man show, Somewhere Between: Not An Ordinary Life, and in his sensational memoir, Transelectric. Cid’s currently resurrecting Somewhere Between and will be touring with it, starting this summer. Has it ever been more relevant and important? 

Cid told us of always feeling male and how that translated to being a sister, daughter, wife, mother, grandfather, and husband. This is not a simple story, and a far more complex life, made more so by parental tragedy. Cid did not always live with grace, but lessons were learned, and the man who sat before us is wiser, stronger, and… softer. 

A friend for the last many years, I’ve had the good fortune to bear witness to Cid’s many talents, as an actor in the brilliant new musical, The Civility of Albert Cashier, where Cid portrayed a true-life character whose life in some ways mirrored his own, in concert with The Refugees, and I was honored to be asked to blurb his memoir, Transelectric. Cid is a treasured friend with a story that screams to be heard, especially today. 

For all things Cid… his show dates, signed copies of his book, and all of his music, visit  www.cidnybullens.com - what a life! 

Cidny Bullens Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Wed, June 10, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET

Streamed Live on my FB, YouTube & LinkedIn

2x GRAMMY Nominee CIDNY BULLENS - NOT An Ordinary Life

Today LIVE! Two-time Grammy nominee Cidny Bullens is a good friend and a multi-talented performer, of whom I have borne witness, live, as a singer/songwriter and as an actor. Cid has performed with Bob Dylan, toured and recorded with Sir Elton John, sang three lead vocals on the iconic Grease movie soundtrack, and has had a string of acclaimed solo rock/Americana albums from 1978 to the present. He is also part of the long-time trio, The Refugees, with Wendy Waldman and Deborah Holland. In 2016, Cidny wrote his award-winning one-person show Somewhere Between: Not an Ordinary Life, which he performs nationally. Cid's memoir, TransElectric: My Life as a Cosmic Rock Star (with a foreword by Sir Elton John), was released in 2023 by Chicago Review Press to rave reviews and praise from me. Cid continues to write and tour both solo and with The Refugees, appear at book signings, and is bringing back his solo show Somewhere Between, in the fall. I have yet to see it, can't wait, but did see Cidney in the stellar premiere production of The Civility of Albert Cashier, in the title role. Magnificent! 

More than any of that, Cid is a treasured friend, with a story that screams to be heard, especially today. We'll be talking about transitions never before discussed on this show. It's about time. 

Cidny Bullens Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Wed, June 10, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET

Streaming Live on my FB, YouTube & LinkedIn

facebook.com/vickiabelson