Photo Credit: Alyssa Story
JAMESTOWN - Scott Johnson primarily lives in Boulder with his wife and two kids, but the family also owns a house in New Orleans, located on North Rampart Street.
Over a decade ago, he played a gig and mentioned that he would have loved to learn how to play the sousaphone, as at the time he played upright and electric bass. A trumpet player and friend playing the gig with him said that he would help Johnson learn the ropes. This motivated Johnson to teach himself the instrument, and feeling comfortable playing New Orleans jazz, he gathered friends of his to form a band to play that jazz: the Rampart Street Stompers, a name that tributes his house.
The band focuses on traditional New Orleans jazz from the 1920s and ’30s, from Louis Armstrong to Louis Prima, and the lineup has changed slightly over the years to home in on that particular sound.
The current lineup consists of Johnson as band leader, sousaphone player, and vocalist; Fred Renken on trumpet; Fred Rollenhagen on trombone; Michael Bocim on clarinet; Al Scholl on banjo and guitar; Steve Balgooyen on drums; and Corinne Johnson, Scott’s daughter, as a vocalist.
Other members have included Josh Schnabel on banjo and ukulele, Ellie Brown on vocals, and Justin Peterson on trumpet. Johnson calls the band a middle ground between Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Tuba Skinny, the latter of whom Johnson credits with inspiring the band in the first place.
Johnson hasn’t always dedicated himself completely to music. He learned classical piano as a kid and taught himself guitar early in college at the University of Notre Dame. Between his sophomore and junior years, though, to help friends of his get a band together and find a bassist to complete it, he taught himself bass during the summer. That fall, the band started and gained notoriety in the South Bend area, and, after graduating, Johnson continued playing bass, focusing primarily on blues.
Eventually, he gravitated towards the upright bass, initially wanting to try bluegrass but ultimately realizing it didn’t speak to him as much as blues did. He continued playing blues and started learning jazz.
He bought his New Orleans house in 2005, the spring before Hurricane Katrina devastated the area. This house, located in a historic area, was run down and abandoned, and Johnson has ultimately renovated the place and plans to retire there.
Johnson plays and has played in a wide variety of groups, including the honky tonk group Cowboy Dave Band, instrumental surf group The Beloved Invaders, roots rock and honky tonk group Marty Jones and the Great Unknowns, and acoustic blues group Felonius Smith Trio. His jazz and swing groups include Joe Smith and the Spicy Pickles, The Mile High Club, and The Olde Town Swing Band; there’s a blues and roots rock group, The Mary Russell Band, and others including Gora Gora Orkestar and Uptown Mess Around.
Johnson believes the melodies and lyrics of the jazz he’s focused on in Street Stompers have become timeless. He loves getting positive feedback from an energetic and excited audience, and he aims to represent the vast cultural background of New Orleans whenever the Rampart Street Stompers perform.
You can see the Rampart Street Stompers performing live at the Jamestown Mercantile, located at 108 Main Street in Jamestown, on Halloween, Thursday, October 31, 2024, starting at 7 p.m. You can see more of them on YouTube as Rampart Street Stompers, on Facebook as The Rampart Street Stompers, or by going to their website at rampartstreetstompers.com.
