This Long Island artist had a long history performing around his stomping grounds and occasionally opening for national artists before putting out a solo album in 2013. For 2015, he's got a full album of Christmas goodies. Self-identifying as "Americana," that's a tip to you that there is rootsy rock with blues and country influences on offer. And extra points to Johnny for leaving the sheet music for the holiday canon in the piano bench in favor of original tunes. "Christmas Cards" is a Bo Diddley-rhythm ode to the slowly dying custom of mailing cards, "It's Christmastime Again" is a fine boogie shuffle to open the album, and "I Wanna Be Your Santa Claus" rocks out with a little role-playing before the jolly elf himself crashes the party. "Hey Santa Claus" borrows a bit from some of the holiday's blues classics but puts a slinky beat under the proceedings, and "Santa's Housetop Blues" gives the upright bass the lead on a jazzy tune. "Christmas Eve @ Santa's Workshop" is an instrumental that evokes the scene described in the title, and "Christmas Night" is mostly instrumental with a brief vocal chorus in the middle. "North Pole Hop" is an uptempo song selling us a new holiday dance craze, something we never get tired of here, and Johnny tops things off with two year-enders, "Have a Happy New Year," which dwells more on Christmas traditions than the inevitable singing of "Auld Lang Syne," and "New Year's Party," which trades on mid-70s hard rock rhythms to get the celebrants on the dance floor. Although the themes of the various songs are a bit on the same-y side, well, this is a Christmas album after all. Roots music fans will enjoy this most, but it's enjoyable no matter what your favorite genre is.
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