Greg Johnson is no stranger to milestones, or celebrations for that matter, and 2026 has brought significant reason for both. In early October he released a new album titled ‘Some Night Somewhere’, and later the same month will be touring Aotearoa on a seven-date, career-spanning tour to celebrate his 60th birthday. Richard Thorne caught up with him to talk about both adventures.

Both as a songwriter and performer Greg Johnson has always exhibited a wry sense of self, a trait firmly on display in the branding of his October/early-November 2026 NZ tour simply as ‘60’.

The reasoning may be self-evident, but given that it’s quite a senior number was that an easy decision?

“It was very easy for Kurt!” he laughs, referencing fellow Kiwi musician and tour promoter Kurt Shanks, owner of Plus1, the tour company that’s been backing Johnson’s pretty much annual Aotearoa tours for well over a decade.

“He thought that was a great idea, and I actually couldn’t argue with him!” Johnson grins. “I think I’d sort of realised that it comes a point where you’ve just got to wear it like a badge, really.

“At 50 I sort of stood up and said, ‘Well, I’m a musician now. It’s too late now sorry, I’m unemployable. I’ve never done anything else. But even then you kind of think, ‘I’m still young. I’m still awake, and there’s still a chance…

“And then you hit 60 and you think, ‘I’m not going to hide this anymore.’ And a part of that thinking is the departure of many who didn’t even make 60. So far I’m a survivor. Will I make 70 or 80? I don’t know, but let’s just wait and see…”

Talking to NZM from his apartment home close to Santa Monica beach in Los Angeles, he enthusiastically shares what he describes as one of the funniest things that happened around turning 60.

“I went down to my local herb store, which of course is all legal here and everything. I showed them my ID as you do, and they were like, ‘Oh, cool! Congratulations, you get 30% off now on Sundays and Tuesdays.’ God, I love California, I was punching the air!”

Ahead of the tour Johnson has released ‘Some Night Somewhere’. With a discography dating back to 1991 it’s his 14th studio album, and as always there’s plenty of that wryness on display. ‘Just a keyboard and a half-sized brain, is all it takes to shoot to big time fame’, he sings in the poppy You In Summer. Continuing, ‘But I’m asleep at the wheel, daydreaming again’. A similar message is reflected in Johnson’s own soundbite resume of the album.

“The title sums it up. The album is a collection of vignettes, some real some not. I’m realising with age that my songs are almost always imaginary trailers for non-existent short films. If I wasn’t so lazy I probably would’ve tried to be a filmmaker.”

Living in LA since 2002 he’s been in the right place to have a crack at an alternate career, but one way or another music has economically sustained him through four decades. He was on the bill at legendary Sunset Strip venue Whisky a Go Go just a few weeks back, but local gigs are increasingly far between. With live performance opportunities declining over time composing music for film has been an important string to his income bow, as have song placements in TV shows, film and commercials.

In 2018 he rather appropriately scored the international festival award-winning documentary on NZ wine, A Seat At The Table. Drinking references are a Greg Johnson lyric staple, and his new album offers up Mixing Drinks to further that canon.

‘Some Night Somewhere’ was mostly recorded in his Santa Monica home studio, self-recorded and produced with Johnson playing keyboards and trumpet, as well as guitar, accordion and numerous other instrumental parts. Key collaborators will be familiar to any Kiwi Greg Johnson fans – Mark Hughes on bass, drummer Wayne Bell, Ted Brown and Ben King playing guitar. The same crew will be backing him live on his 60 tour.

“Yeah, I used all kinds of different people, but mainly the usual suspects for rhythm and guitar. Some of the drums were done at Wayne Bell’s studio in Auckland – basically he’s got his kit set up real nice, and he can record whenever he wants to from afar.

“Actually, at least of the one of the tracks I did while I was down there last year. I was producing a record down there at Neil Finn’s studio, and I did a couple of tracks with Wayne and Ben then. So that was cool.

“And some of them were done in my studio here. There’s also Sylvain Carter, an amazing saxophone player who lives here in LA. And then a few other people, Simon Petty and Celia Chavez, who are studio friends of mine as well. They contributed here and there, and there was a few others.”

His teenage daughter added violin and Mel Parsons features in the vocal duet Your Sadness, a typically timeless Greg Johnson waltz-time ballad.

“It’s a very simple song about trying to cheer someone up by taking a drive in the desert. I felt like both characters needed to be on the recording, and my friend Mel Parsons kindly agreed to sing on it. Her voice is a great match, I’m very happy with how it turned out.”

Released in August Your Sadness was the sixth single dropped over 18 months ahead of the new album which Johnson says is dedicated to Trevor Reekie, his earliest record label support (Pagan Records), longtime friend and former Greg Johnson Set bandmate.

“Trevor probably doesn’t know that yet, and it’s going to be on vinyl. But the reason it’s dedicated to him is because I wanted to make it in the old style. So I’ve been putting out singles after singles. I think there’s six or seven singles out, and there’ll only be three songs that people potentially haven’t heard when the album comes out.

“I just liked the idea of doing that way, and I’ve tracked it because of the vinyl, so it works like an album with side A and side B. I’ve found it quite satisfying actually doing it that way. I’m kind of quite pleased with this one. I think I’m actually becoming a better musician as I get older. I don’t know if the songs are better or not, but the definitely my piano playing, and so on, is improved – as it should!”

There’ll be few singer-songwriter-sized music venues in the country that Johnson hasn’t played over the years, but his seven-date Aotearoa tour 60 does bring some new treats for the (now officially) veteran performer.

“We did two nights in The Piano last time I played in Christchurch, so we decided this time we’d do the James Hay Theatre on a Sunday. It’s a nice change, actually. I’ll be interested to see how it is. It’ll be the first time I’ve been in the new Town Hall building since they re-did it and everything.

“The night before that I’m playing the Opera House in Oamaru. Yeah, I mean it’s a gigantic opera house! The chances of filling it are exactly zero, but it’s still going to be a great night! And then there’s Wellington where we do Old St Paul’s, which is just the most amazing venue of all.

“We did that with ‘Vine Street’. It seats 400 and it’s just an amazing space, and always fun to play. You know, the Anglican Church knew what they were doing when they crowded a bunch of people in to hear someone performing!

“The whole the whole idea of the 60 thing as well is that I want to play some of the songs that people know, perhaps a little bit differently. Try and showcase the songs rather than the versions. So if it was on a piano I’m going to play it on the guitar, and if it was on the guitar, I’ll play it on the piano. Just muck around a bit and try and see how they go for that.

“But it’s going to be a full band, so it’ll be a big a big racket, you know?” he chuckles.