We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daniel Johnson-Brewer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Daniel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

When I first started learning Saxophone in Fifth grade, it started out as something that I wanted to do for fun throughout middle and high school. However by the time I was in Seventh grade, I started to realize that music was something I really loved doing and found myself investing a lot of time into. About this time, I was also introduced to the Jazz Academy ran by the Jazz Arts Group of Columbus. I auditioned and got into one of the big bands and from then on, I met so many professional musicians that I now have the great fortune of calling friends. These people helped show me that I could make a career out of playing music which inspired me to pursue music professionally.

Daniel, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve been playing saxophone for roughly ten years and professionally for about six years. Currently, I am also a student at Capital University studying Jazz Studies and Saxophone Performance. As I stated before, I started my career by being involved in my schools Jazz program and also being involved in the Youth Jazz Program created by the Jazz Arts Group of Columbus. In high school, I had many great experiences that helped me get connections and foster my musical growth. I was fortunate to be a part of the Columbus Youth Jazz Studio and Orchestra, the Columbus Youth Symphonic Band, and the Columbus Youth Jazz Lab. Throughout the years, I’ve been given the pleasure of performing with many groups such as the Rick Brunetto Big Band, Vaughn Wiester’s Famous Jazz Orchestra, New Basics Brass Band and many others. I’ve also been able to perform throughout Central Ohio and abroad. As far as what I do, I get to perform music that I love for audiences and I get to make music with other people.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I feel that as a society, we can support artists and creatives by simply showing them that they are appreciated. Art, whether visual or performing, is something we all benefit from and therefore I believe it’s important to share our appreciation. Something as simple as attending concerts, donating to artists, tipping musicians, and purchasing art and merchandise is a big way that we as a society can support artists. Even as a musician, I always do my best to support my colleagues by attending their concerts, buying their albums and merchandise, and supporting them in any way that I can. If we all collectively do this, we can further cultivate a thriving creative ecosystem.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a musician is that I get to do what I love most everyday. Unfortunately, not everyone gets to make a career doing the things they love so I consider myself very blessed to be able to make music for and with other people. I also love that as a musician, I can make a difference in peoples lives. After some of my performances, many people may come up to me saying they enjoyed the music or that I made their day better. For me, seeing the joy on others faces makes everything so much better and reminds me why I chose music as a career path.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danieljbsax/
• Facebook: Facebook.com/danieljbsax
• Twitter: twitter.com/danieljbsax
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2hIpLDXB0foJj3Z8nPHjiQ

Image Credits
Jessica Rudd, Tim Purdue, Capital University