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

Alright, LaDarrel 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?

Way back in 1992, I knew that I wanted to be a professional saxophonist, after watching an episode of The Simpsons, when Lisa was learning how to play the blues from Bleeding Gums Murphy.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a native Detroiter, who began playing saxophone at the age of 7. I played from 2nd grade, all the way through elementary, middle, and high school, as well as college. I left college my sophmore year after receiving the opportunity to tour with Grammy Award winning artist, Dwele. After the Dwele tour, I was picked up by many other artists: Keith Washington, K’Jon, Leon Ware, Eric Roberson, Les Nubians, Floetry, Zo!, Carmen Rodgers, Deborah Bond, TallBlackGuy, and Charlie Wilson. Being a touring musician takes tons of discipline. There are tons of rehearsals, traveling, sound checks, and high-energy performances, late night, early mornings for lobby calls, you name it. So it definitely takes a lot of mental strength to be able to persevere through it all.
What sets me a part from other saxophonists is my passion for live performances. I treat shows that I’m fortunate to be a part of as if it’s my own music, and I leave it all on the stage.
My goal has always been to heal anyone who’s able to hear and experience my music, through positive vibrations and healing frequencies through my playing.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

As an artist in this day and age, we should be able to be more comfortable financially from merchandise sells, album purchases, and streams of our music. Unfortunately, music streaming is a fraction of a fraction of a penny, so we hope in the near future, that there are some changes to this.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I’m currently reading “Dilla Time”, by Dan Charnas. It’s a very informative read, teaching me a lot about J. Dilla, his mentality, a very in-depth look at some Detroit history as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: SaxappealMusic.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/SaxappealMusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaxappealTM
• Twitter: Twitter.com/SaxappealMusic
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@Saxappeal?si=t9NmDgtFA-4wLt0O