Nick Johnston

Nick Johnston is a Canadian guitarist and songwriter who records as a solo artist. As of 2024, he has released six solo records. His albums have featured the work of notable artists such as Paul Gilbert, Marco Minnemann, Guthrie Govan, and Bryan Beller. He has also played on songs by other artists, including Intervals, Scale the Summit, Periphery, Polyphia, and Mike Dawes, and he has toured with Plini, among other artists. In May 2019, he went on a North American tour with Between the Buried and Me and the Contortionist. In 2025, he was announced as a touring guitarist for the metal band Mastodon, and in 2026, he became a full member. Johnston has cited musical influences such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Jeff Beck, saying "I sound nothing like those guys, but I'm massively influenced by them". Another influence was Joe Satriani. "Before listening to Joe, I don't think I understood how important a role the melodies played in building compositions", Nick stated in a Total Guitar interview. "I realised he was the guy who'd really figured it out—the balance of technique, tone, melody, and production. While players were learning blues from Hendrix and Clapton, I was learning them from Satriani". The guitarist released his own signature guitar through Schecter in 2016. Schecter has since released additional variants of his signature guitar, splitting them into the USA Signature Series and Traditional Series, with these being premium and affordable versions respectively. He is also passionate about comics and has hired comics illustrators to create his album art.[edit]