Rising Stars: Meet Jon Johnson of Arlington, VA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon Johnson.

Hi Jon, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My company is Touch the Buffalo LLC, and I created the LLC to submit invoices to venues to get paid for performances by my band, Touch the Buffalo.
The band is a side hustle I’m hoping takes off some day, but I pay my bills as a software developer. In late 2023, I was completely burnt out. I quit my job, and cashed out my 401k to take a 9 month hiatus and try to nurse my psyche back to health, and try to understand why everything felt like it was falling apart. I also thought it was the ideal time to get more serious about music, and try to make a living from the music alone.
My drummer and I practiced a set we created, we set up a show in DC, then a small tour in VA that ended at the Stepping Out music festival at my alma mater, Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Then we took a flight out to play at Sturgis Bike Week in South Dakota. We met the 80’s hair metal band Ratt at the airport (they are known for that song “Round and Round”), they were playing Sturgis too. It was amazing, they chatted with us and were really nice. We got to the venue we were supposed to be playing at, and the stage manager asked my political affiliation. When he found out I voted for Biden and I didn’t like Trump, he tried to cancel our set. The other stage crew stood up for us, so then the stage manager backpedalled and said he was joking. We played one song, and then he said we sucked and canceled our set. The stage hands apologized, said there was nothing the could do, but they loved our music.
I felt defeated.
The music didn’t take off. Doors were closed in our faces. It didn’t matter that we sound good, that we have good content online, that we put on a good show, that labels were finding us and trying to help. And I was running out of money from my 401k, so I was going to need to start doing software development again.
Luckily, I pivoted, and started using my LLC to bill clients for freelance software development. I’ve recently hired 2 part time IT apprentices, and a third one is joining this Summer.
I’m still working with music too. Touch the Buffalo is working with the record label Young Outlaw Music, my songs are getting radio airplay internationally, I will be releasing a new single this year,

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not smooth at all. There’s so much to learn about working with other artists when trying to create music, or working with people in the music industry. The level of professionalism with respect to scheduling, communication, and punctuality that is expected in the corporate IT world is largely non existent in the music world.

I have worked with promoters that are professional, and the good people at Young Outlaw Musical are stellar when it comes to these things, but most people I have met that were working at venues, or as sound techs, or as studio sound engineers, these people tend to be in the bar scene culture, or their creativity that led them to the music world is through their unmanaged ADHD. And then these people get offended at the insinuation that they are under performing, and that becomes problematic.

And then writing good songs with other artists requires putting your ego aside, and helping the other artists learn when to put their ego aside. That part wasn’t too hard, and is a priceless skillset in my opinion. But, that led to another problem – putting on good shows with good music may lead to attractive people wanting the attention of members of your band, and those band members will then have less time to contribute to the band.

And then the DC music scene was problematic for me. Many talented artists, the people seem good enough, but the community I was in, we were tested with some sneaky problematic people, and we couldn’t survive the fractures.
The group had a very attractive guy and a very attractive girl, and they dated each other. But, she would flirt with other guys in the community to garner support for her music, and then her boyfriend would get upset. My drummer and I were aware that her flirting was disingenuous. I think she knew we knew, because she started telling people that I thought she wanted me, which made people think I was the problem. So we left that group. I went from mediocre support in the DC music scene to zero support in the DC music scene.

You have to learn about music/how to sing/how to play your instrument, you have to be honest with yourself about what you like creatively, you have to corral other creative people to meet regularly to work on the art, you have to learn how to use music software and various equipment, you have to have money to pay for all of this, you have to learn how to professionally record your music, how to objectively critique the mixes of your music (which means you have to learn how to talk to sound engineers in the technical vocabulary they understand), you have to learn how to become visible to promoters and labels, you have to learn how to book gigs and festivals. And after all that, there are snakes that will happily sabotage you if they think it might benefit them.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Well, my company Touch the Buffalo LLC submits invoices for my musical performances, and for my freelance software development work. I am not lavishly rich, but I do earn enough to afford and enjoyable life, and employ a few part time IT apprentices, and I’m incredibly grateful and proud to be able to say that.

I have accolades in music that I’m proud of. My band has played at several music festivals, with some noteworthy headliners such as The Gin Blossoms, Sugar Ray, Good Charlotte and Jimmy’s Chicken Shack. When we played at Sturgis, Jelly Roll was a headliner, and I mentioned we met Ratt at the airport, though because of political differences with the stage manager, we didn’t get to finish our set at Sturgis.
We’ve charted in the top 100 on College radio charts. Our music has been played on a few commercial FM stations in the US, and gets airplay internationally.
In 2022 we won a battle of the bands, which I’m incredibly proud of. What I’m even MORE proud of from that performance at the Battle of the Bands was that there was a teenager in the audience with cerebral palsy who was in a wheelchair, but she had her dad help her stand up in her wheelchair so she could dance to our music. That moment alone shields me from any hater I will ever encounter.

As far as the IT side, I’m genuinely proud that the skillset I got from my college degree allowed me to go into work for myself, and create my own product that I’ve hired people to help get to market. To go from employee to CEO and have employees, that’s a dream in itself for me.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
It’s more than one quality, but maybe integrity sums up enough of what you need. You need bravery, not just to face the audience on the stage, but to face the fear of the unknown because when you start, you know almost none of it so it’s all the “unknown.” Honesty with yourself is critical for the artist side. The desire to think you are or will be famous, loved or successful can get in the way of being honest about your art. You need endurance, because many forces will try to make you quit along the way.
If Bravery + Honesty + Endurance = Integrity, then integrity is the most important thing for success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/touchthebuffalo
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/touchthebuffalo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TouchTheBuffalo/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TouchtheBuffalo