CURRENT MISSION

I am building a business as a performing musician in the Tampa area, both as a singer/songwriter and as a member of several bands. I am truly enjoying the experience of being a full time musician.

ABOUT ME

Bill Johnston was born in Princeton, NJ in 1974 and dwelt there for the first months of his life. His memories of this time are rather vague - he remembers a house, and very possibly a high chair, but that's about it. At the age of 10 months, the family Johnston moved to Connecticut, leaving behind only a pair of Mom's boots which had become stuck in some mud in the backyard in an incident while, while amusing, has absolutely nothing to do with this biography.

The rest of Bill's youth was spent in the suburbs of CT, where he began to sing and play guitar in the church choir. This, plus a starring role in his school's production of the dubious musical "Santa's Gone Hip", was all he needed to convince him that music should be his life. In high school, he journeyed to to distant lands with the concert choir and jazz ensemble. He was also in several garage bands, each of which managed to not quite win the annual Battle of the Bands.

As time went on, Bill moved to Boston for some book learnin'. While there, he joined up with a group called the Dear Abbeys who, despite the obvious reference to the famed columnist, probably shouldn't be relied upon for advice about anything. At all. Anyway, he toured the countryside with this band of misfits and sang acapella music at anyone who wandered into hearing range. A handful of these roving minstrels eventually become the singing group known only as Happy Cat. They journeyed to Japan, mostly to enjoy always being the tallest people in the room, and taught the entire population of a small fishing village the Macarena.

Shortly after college, Bill picked up his belongings, moved to Maryland, and began his illustrious career as a door-to-door salesman. After a short stint as the travelling peddler, Bill eventually wound up in the marketing department of a trade association. He somehow convinced his employers to let him man their booth at trade shows and, using this clever ploy, travelled to exotic locations like Detroit and Anaheim. He also helped found an acapella group which utterly failed to take the DC music scene by storm.

Ultimately, Bill moved back to Boston and began working at a research and consulting firm. Due to a colossal mix up in paperwork, he ended up as their database manager and once again travelled to the Far East. A full account of Bill's resulting misadventures would take more space than is available here, but it did involve a thoroughly unplanned journey through remote portions of Malaysia, a nearly disastrous incident at a border, and male-on-male tortoise sex. He really wishes that he were kidding.

Bill was last spotted in Tampa, FL. He has gone back to school for his MBA in what can only be described as an extremely cunning maneuver to avoid having to get a job for a couple of years. He is also performing at local bars and coffeehouses. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find him, you can probably hire Bill to play at your house party.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Right now, I am definitely a surfer. However, I would definitely be on board with hosting other surfers down the road when my situation allows it...

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have performed with a variety of different music groups across the country and overseas, and much of these travels involved staying on someone's couch/chair/floor/hammock/whatever. I actually like it much better than staying at a hotel because of the people you get to meet. Sharing stories, music, and laughter with new friends is always a beautiful thing.

Interests

You've probably guessed by now that a big interest of mine is music, and you would be correct ;-) I love listening to it, I love talking about it, I love playing it. Aside from that, I like exploring - discovering new places and whatnot. Hiking is a great way to do this. I also like people watching. Coffeeshops are a great place to do this. I don't watch all that much TV but am a fan of movies, and I can definitely get into a board game or two...

• cats
• books
• singing
• concerts
• partying
• movies
• tv
• traveling
• music
• jazz
• guitar
• fishing
• hiking
• business

Teach, Learn, Share

I've spent a few years teaching guitar, and would be happy to do some teaching while I surf ;-)

Countries I’ve Visited

Aruba, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, Virgin Islands, U.S.

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States