By Chris Liuzza
chris.liuzza@jackson.gannett.com

Melanie Thortis | Northeast Ledger Scott Albert Johnson let loose on the harmonica Friday night at Soulshine Pizza on the Reservoir. NOW PLAYING Scott Albert Johnson will be playing from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. each Wednesday, starting tonight, for four weeks at Parker House in Ridgeland

For many musicians, family life doesn't come into the equation until after the playing days or over.

The travel and late hours can make being an available parent difficult, if not impossible.

But for one Jackson musician, finding a way to manage both has made him happier as a performer and a dad.

Scott Albert Johnson, a noted harmonica player and vocalist with an eclectic style, can often be seen with his children at a performance.

At a recent show at Soulshine Pizza, he played part of his set with his two sons, Charlie and Benjamin, in his lap.

"It's definitely a balancing act, sometimes more balanced than others," Johnson said.

Johnson, 39, became serious about making music in his early 30s, but has had an inclination for the arts since childhood.

While growing up in St. Louis, he began singing at a young age and eventually took violin lessons.

"That didn't really take very well, but it was kind of a start into playing an instrument," he said.

Johnson's family moved to Jackson when he was 10 years old and he branched out as a musician.

As a teen, he played bass guitar in a band and sung in the choir at St. Andrew's Episcopal School.

The interest in performing would continue during his time at Harvard University, but other things began to steal time away from music, such as being the place-kicker for the school's football team.

"I think I'm fifth or sixth on the all-time (Harvard) kick scoring list," Johnson said. "Music somewhat took a back seat."

After college, unsure of what direction to go, he enrolled in the journalism program at Columbia University. Music moved to the trunk.

"I really did not do music from the time I was 21 or 22 until I was 30," he said.

It was at the point that he began playing casually with a co-worker who happened to play guitar.

He also began seriously playing harmonica, an instrument he had experimented with in his youth.

The note formation, which is achieved through blowing and drawing air through the harmonica, was a natural fit for a singer like Johnson.

"It's closer to the human voice, in my opinion, than any other instrument," he said.

That allowed him to more easily relate music from his thoughts to the instrument. After a few months of practice, he knew he was on to something.

"I realized this was actually my instrument," he said. "I was better at this than I ever was at the bass or guitar."

He returned to Jackson in 2003, looking for the opportunity to turn his music into a profession.

"I thought, if I wanted to be serious about this, this would be a good place to go back to," he said.

The move turned out to be a good one. Along with places like New Orleans and Memphis, Jackson provided the gigs he was looking for. It also gave him the opportunity to begin dating his future wife, Susan Margaret Barrett.

"Meeting her and getting together with her so shortly after I got back was one of the greatest and most unexpected blessings of my life," he said.

Barrett remembers music being a constant companion during the early years.

"When we first dated, I think we were out every night, just listening to music or him playing music," she said.

That changed when Johnson found out about the pending arrival of his first son, Charlie.

He was in Lithuania at the time, as part of a two-country tour of Europe, playing with a native band.

Johnson rehearsed in a building he learned was the former KGB headquarters for Lithuania when the nation was under Soviet control.

The local band was extraordinarily talented, he said, but communication was not a strong point.

"They keyboard player did not speak more than five words of English," he said. "But he could play anything."

He received a call from his wife, informing him about Charlie's scheduled debut.

Things began to change quickly, Johnson said.

"It's amazing how immediately your priorities adapt," he said. "You don't really have to think, 'Now I'm going to put my child first.' You just do."

The trick was to figure out the logistics of managing a music career while taking care of a child, he said.

Barrett saw Johnson adjust quickly.

"I think it shocked him more than anything that, after he had children, something was more important to him than music," she said.

That balance continues today, where Johnson, now a father of two with another on the way, tries to be the best musician and father he can be.

He still plays gigs and still plays out of town, though not as far from home as did before Charlie and Benjamin were born.

The reason is simple.

"I still love playing as much as ever and I'm still serious about having a career in it as much as ever, but I hate being away from my family," he said.

Playing in town allows his sons to attend his performances, too. In his younger days, three-and-a-half-year-old Charlie was a staple on the Jackson music scene.

"When it was just Charlie, my wife would bring him out most of the time to my shows," Johnson said. "At Hal and Mal's, they all know him."

Johnson still wants to make it as a full-time musician and is taking pre-orders for his new album now. For more information, visit www.scottalbertjohnson.com.

Any continued success he finds will be to the benefit of his family, not at the at the expense of it.

"There's so many gradations of what I consider success that I would find satisfactory," he said. "That all would have to be in the context of what's best for my family."