ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — Beach CITE Studios Inc. in Orange Beach proudly will present a live performance by Cowboy Johnson with special guests, and CD Release Party for his new CD “Old Friends” in its state-of-the- art Listening Room April 29 at 7 p.m., doors open 30 minutes prior to the show.

Johnson will play songs from the new album with a little help from a few “Old Friends.”

Louis Johnson’s parents didn’t give him the name “Cowboy,” but it has been tattooed on his chest for 30 years now. So yes, that’s his real name.

He was born in Lancashire, England while his dad was in the Air Force, but the family moved back to the states and he spent most of his childhood in California.

Like many of the great singers, he sang gospel music in the church choir as a child before the Johnsons moved to Minnesota when Louis was 15. By 1969, at the age of 16, he was on his own and ended up in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where he spent the 1970s working the mines, playing music and living hard. It was there that a disgruntled neighbor, whose mailbox Louis had shot full of holes one drunken afternoon, declared to the community “we gotta do something about this damn cowboy.”

The name stuck, but the alcoholism and addiction he had been struggling with for years did not. Sober now for 24 years, Cowboy sings songs of pain, loss, regret and redemption. His voice betrays the truth that he has actually lived these songs. He has danced with his demons and you can hear them in the soulful honesty of his voice.

He first heard Mickey Newbury’s music in 1970 and has been a fan ever since. The stars lined up in late 2003, and he recorded the first CD of his career with his old friend from South Dakota, Chris Gage, in the producer’s seat. Gage has been a believer in Cowboy’s talent since the ’70s, and the two carefully created “Cowboy Johnson – A Grain of Sand,” a CD that beautifully showcases Cowboy’s voice and Mickey’s songs.

Cowboy Johnson, currently living in Austin, Texas, recently filmed a “Songwriters in the Round” television show for The Austin Music Network and has been steadily building a loyal following with regular regional performances. He is happily trading the hammer for the guitar.

To learn more about him, visit his website at: http://www.cowboyjohnson.com/

For reservations to see this expert performer in this one-of-a kind venue, call Beach CITE Studios at 251-981-1989. Donation for admission accepted at the door.

Beach CITE Studios Inc., is a non-profit organization, 501 (c)3, providing a “Community Interactive Teaching Experience” in order to enrich the lives of residents and guests along the Gulf Coast.

For more information on this organization, visit www.beachcitestudios.org or call 251-981-1989.