Johnny Hiland is an American guitarist born on January 18, 1975, in Woodland, Maine, who grew up in the small town of Baileyville with a condition called nystagmus — an eye disease causing involuntary movement that left him legally blind from birth. His father was determined not to hold him back from anything he wanted to do, and what Johnny wanted to do from the very beginning was play guitar. He started at age two, performed on Dick Stacey's Country Jamboree on local television at age seven, and at age ten won the national Talent America contest in New York City with his siblings Jodi and Jerry as the trio called The Three J's, playing bluegrass country. A visit to see Ricky Skaggs perform transformed his direction: he immediately wanted a Telecaster, and from that point on spent his teenage years developing his own blend of chicken pickin', rock, blues, and swing in bands around Maine.
After graduating high school and completing three years at the University of Southern Maine, Hiland moved to Nashville in 1996. He worked his way up through the honky-tonks on lower Broadway, eventually landing the gig with The Don Kelley Band at the legendary Robert's Western World, which led to appearances on TNN's Prime Time Country and eventually a performance at the Grand Ole Opry. In 1998 he became the first unsigned artist in Nashville to receive an endorsement deal with Fender Musical Instruments — a recognition of how quickly he had established himself in the city's notoriously competitive session and live circuit. He went on to do session work for Toby Keith, Randy Travis, Ricky Skaggs, Trick Pony, Janie Fricke, Lynn Anderson, Hank 3, and others. Ricky Skaggs said of him: "I think Johnny Hiland is the most versatile guitar player I've ever heard. From Bill Monroe to Eddie Van Halen, he can play it all."
The path to a solo record deal arrived in an unlikely way: his manager left a snippet of a demo recording on Steve Vai's voicemail box, and Vai was so impressed he signed Hiland to his Favored Nations Records label. The resulting self-titled debut album, released in August 2004, showcased the full breadth of his style — chicken pickin', country, rock, blues, and swing — in an instrumental guitar format. Critics noted influences ranging from Danny Gatton to Eddie Van Halen alongside his deep country roots. He subsequently signed with Mike Varney's Shrapnel Records and released All Fired Up in 2011. Later releases included Loud and Proud and the gospel album Pickin' for the Lord, which featured Jack Pearson, Brent Mason, John Jorgenson, and Greg Martin of the Kentucky Headhunters. He has been a PRS signature model artist, a Music Man endorsee, and since 2017 has played his signature Kiesel JH6 model guitar.
Hiland has become one of the most respected clinicians and guitar educators in the country scene, teaching live and online and sharing his knowledge of guitars and gear with students worldwide. His story — legally blind, raised in rural Maine, rising to become one of Nashville's most sought-after guitarists through pure ability — is one of the more remarkable in American music.
Wayne Dennon photographed Johnny Hiland as part of an archive that valued players who earned their place through unmistakable talent. Hiland is the kind of guitarist that other guitarists travel to see — fast, musical, and rooted in a tradition he has spent his entire life mastering.
