This is a version that Skip put together with outtakes from Tommy & I talking during the track when we were trying to figure out what we wanted to say.  FOR FUN! Happy holidays!

Tommy's Wonderland - A special mix Skip did for fun, using outtakes!

This song was written in 1992 and released on my first home demo cassette No Retreat in 1994.

Recorded by me on my Tascam 4-track, using my Ovation acoustic guitar and my Yamaha SY55 keyboard.

So Far 1992 Home Demo

I wasn't sure I was remembering everything correctly...until I found this old cassette tape. I'd won 4 hours of studio time in a song contest. I recorded Lightning with Stacy Heydon. He handed me the tape and said, "Take this to Bill Bass." We did. On the drive home, we heard Lightning playing on the radio! I called Bill Bass when I got home, and he asked if he could put me on the air! Jerald found this cassette and managed to record most of the interview. Fairy tales can come true! :)

Lightning Radio WKOC

1998&1999 Annie w/Bill Bass LoCal Snack w/Kristi Michael & Brother Dave 93.7 The Coast

My first appearance on Brother Dave's Sunrise on the Coast 93.7FM in 1998.  I perform two songs from the Letters From L.A. CD. January 24, 1999. 

You can listen to the entire studio album on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/album/516B7cII9GpeQlGqcMGjce?si=rw1GAeLkR0WtjLYMHmY5QA

1998 Nothing To Lose & Letters live w/Brother Dave on The Coast

Written on February 22, 1991 and recorded around the same time while living in New Mexico. Recorded by me on my Tascam 4-track cassette recorder using my Ovation acoustic guitar, vocal delay provided by my Boss Delay pedal.

It Won't Be Us
by Annie Johnson
 2-22-91 (Capo 4th fret)

See the cans crush 'neath my feet
See them sparkle in the sun
Hear the gallop down the street
The race of homeless metals has begun

I'm the sole spectator at the games today
And I will make my bets on who will win & place
It won't be us

What's that blinding light in the grass?
Are these jewels that I have found?
They're just multi-colored fragments of broken glass
Cutting their way into the ground

Hear the flapping overhead
Caught in the bare arms of the trees
Plastic bags trapped by nature's guardians
They struggle in the breeze

I'm the sole spectator at the games today
And I will make my bets on who will win & place
It won't be us

Hear the mournful howling of the wind
As it blows over an empty bottle
The wind she cries out for a long lost friend
But no one can take the trouble

I'm the sole spectator at the games today
And I will make my bets on who will win & place
It won't be us

The Tascam Tapes

It Won't Be Us, February 1991 Home Demo

Fresh off a gig from the night before, we were up bright & early for Sunrise on the Coast with Brother Dave. We played Timothy Dreams from my album Sybil and Thirsty from my album Letters From L.A.

Annie Johnson Band w/Brother Dave Timothy Dreams & Thirsty 2000

Goth Disco Rock? I dunno! We had fun recording it, tho!

Ridin' in the Stagecoach with Drac!

Recorded by Skip DeRupa. Summer of 2022.
Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards - Annie 
Drums - Skip

My Beautiful Day

Live song from our band's performance at the Bay Have Grille.
George Close - Drums
Jack Adam- Bass
Thom Singleton - Guitar
Annie Johnson - Vocals & Guitar

Annie Johnson Band

Tie Dye Army (Live at the Bay Haven Grille 2011)

Built in 1795, Headley Grange is a three-story stone structure which was originally used as a workhouse for the poor, infirm and orphaned.  Led Zeppelin did some recording there, most memorably, the drum tracks for When the Levee Breaks. The band had some spooky experiences in the house. Hearing them tell the story in a documentary, Annie was inspired and later found herself writing a song that expressed her desire to take her band to a far away place, somewhat spooky, but very cool, where they would be free to write and create, far away from the worries and routine of every day life.

Headley Grange

I recorded this myself using a Tascam 4-track, a Yamaha SY55, an Ibanez Strat copy electric guitar, a Takamine acoustic guitar, and a Roland drum machine. This was one of the last home demos I recorded. Around the same time I started playing in bands.

Escape - Home Demo 1994

I looked up.
I looked down.
Got outta my backyard.
Outta my hometown.

Had to drive.
Had to fly.
To be myself had to
Fight! Fight! Fight!

And this was all so long ago
Found my courage and went solo

Rode that glider high
Jumped thru the sky 
And then On My Own

I landed here.

I was cheered. And I soared.
Then I fell down and I hit the floor

I was lied to and I lied.
But that’s the breaks
Cuz it’s a messy life.

And this was all so long ago
Found my courage and went solo

Rode that glider high
Jumped thru the sky 
And then On My Own

I landed here.

The Gazebo Song

From the album Here We Are, 2002.  Words & Music by Annie Johnson.  Annie - Vocals & Guitar. Terry Burrell - Bass.  Recorded & Mixed by Skip DeRupa at Windmark Studios, Virginia Beach, VA.

Here We Are

Anything Goes

I made a Christmas album for my parents back in 2011. This was one of the songs on it. I recorded live at Skip DeRupa's studio.

America (Live Cover)

Annie has been playing in Hampton Roads since 1994 and has released 6 albums of original material beginning with 1998's Letters From L.A. followed by Sybil, Here We Are, Black & Blue, Tie Dye Army and Dollhouse. This SoundCloud page is where she often puts live band recordings and home-recorded tracks not found on any other site.  You can find her studio albums on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music & other platforms.  Her videos are on YouTube. Please check the links below. Thank you very much for listening.

Annie Johnson Demos, live tracks & other oddities

Popular tracks