The guy who’s helped Aerosmith concerts sound like Aerosmith the last 10 years sounds pretty good on his own too. Buck Johnson, the legendary hard-rock band’s touring keyboardist and backing vocalist since 2014, has released a series of strong solo singles this year.

Those tracks include slinky rocker “Who Do You Think You Are” and guitar-pop anthems “Living the Life” and “Just Feel Better.” Johnson, a Birmingham area native, cowrote “Just Feel Better” with Lynyrd Skynyrd/Brother Cane guitarist Damon Johnson, who also grew up in Alabama, and songwriter/producer Jamie Houston, known for his work on TV projects like “High School Musical” and “Hannah Montana.: The song was previously a hit for Carlos Santana and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler.

Buck and Damon started writing “Just Feel Better” in the early 2000s while on tour with singer John Waite, known for his 1984 smash “Missing You” and prior stint fronting power-pop band The Babys.

“Towards the end of the tour,” Johnson recalls, “we had the night off and we decided to stay in for the night. [Damon and I had] and so we took advantage of the night and got the song started. We spent a few hours talking and knocking around ideas, and sometimes that talking leads to inspiration.”

Later, Johnson took the song to Houston, whose wife had died a few years before. Before that, after moving to Los Angeles, Buck and his wife became friends with the Houstons, who were from Tennessee, so the couples bonded over being L.A. transplants from the South.

“Without any intent of like trying to write a hit song,” Johnson says, “it was almost like therapy was like to get this emotion and these feelings out. I guess it [the song] took a life of its own and you know, few years later it ends up in [iconic music-biz executive] Clive Davis’s office and he thinks is great for Santana. I never saw that coming. But anyway, it was a special song is what I guess I’m getting at.”

Johnson’s recent solo singles will be on his forthcoming solo album to be released later this year. The album’s called “Tongue and Groove,” named after its title track. The song “Tongue and Groove” was inspired by his dad, who passed away during the pandemic and during Johnson’s youth had fixed up and added-on to the family’s childhood home.

“He was always proud of the house,” Johnson recalls. “We’d get these tornado warnings [from time to time living in Alabama], but he always said, ‘You don’t need to worry about the storm. This house is built tongue and groove, it’ll withstand any storm.’ Anyway, we’re going through this pandemic, your dad passes away and [the phrase ‘Tongue and Groove’] resonated with me. We’re going through the storm as a society right now, and a lot of people didn’t make it. A lot of relationships didn’t make it.”

The “Tongue and Groove” lyrics also nod to Johnson’s wife Kym Johnson, he says. “Kym and I have been together for many years and without her support, I don’t know if I would be where I’m at. The song also talks about that. It’s kind of the cornerstone to this album.”

Collaborators on that track also include Charlie Midnight, a songwriter/producer who’s worked with the likes of James Brown and Joni Mitchell. Longtime Sheryl Crow guitarist Peter Stroud also contributes.

On keyboards, Johnson takes inspiration from rockers like Elton John, Little Richard, Steve Winwood, Deep Purple’s Jon Lord and Faces’ Ian McLagan. As a kid, he soaked in the Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra records his dad would play around the house. He grew up in the church, so that gospel feel also finds its way into his playing and his singing.

Early on, Johnson toured with South as part of family gospel act Johnson Brothers Quartet. After honing his rock chops in Birmingham bar bands like The Catch, in 1990 he moved to L.A. in 1990, where scored a publishing deal. He found work as keyboardist and backing vocalist with artists like Matthew Sweet and The Doobie Brothers. He even contributed to the music of “High School Musical” and “Hannah Montana.”

Johnson’s life changed after friend Marti Frederiksen — who produced Brother Cane, which led to cowriting Aerosmith’s 2000 hit “Jaded” — recommended Johnson for the then-vacant gig as Aerosmith’s touring keyboardist/backing vocalist.

Frederiksen had sent Tyler clips of Johnson singing Led Zeppelin songs with Black Jacket Symphony, the Birmingham ensemble known for live performances of classic studio albums.

In 2017, Tyler told AL.com via an emailed statement, “And I thought anyone who can hit Robert Plant notes is a shoo-in for anything I’m throwing around.”

Johnson, now based in Nashville, was getting ready to go watch his mom play piano at her church when he received a “No Caller ID” call on his mobile phone. It was Tyler. The next day Johnson was on a plane to Istanbul where a 2014 Aerosmith European tour was kicking off in two days.

A lifelong Aerosmith fan, his go-to albums by the band include “Rocks,” “Toys in the Attic” and “A Night in the Ruts,” Johnson spent the 14-hour flight to Istanbul woodshedding Aerosmith’s material. He played his first show with the band, at a stadium, on no sleep.

READ: Is Bama’s mascot on this classic Aerosmith album cover?

In his 2017 emailed statement to AL.com, Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford recalled, ”Buck Johnson rescues Aerosmith, that could have been the headline.”

Many big shows in big venues would follow. In 2023, Aerosmith launched their years-in-the making farewell tour, titled “Peace Out.” Unfortunately, the tour was paused just a few shows in after Tyler, now 76, suffered fractured larynx and vocal cord damage during a New York performance.

“It kind of threw everybody for a loop when it happened,” Johnson says. “because at the time, we did three shows, and they were incredible.”

In April, after Johnson and I spoke for this article, Aerosmith announced their tour was back on. Rescheduled dates resume September 20 in Pittsburgh. The 40-date arena tour runs through February 26 in Buffalo and includes a New Year’s Eve show in the band’s hometown of Boston. Complete list of tour dates at aerosmith.com.

“The production’s incredible,” Johnson says. “I mean, we’re talking a production they would fit into a football stadium inside of an arena.”

Even though Tyler’s hip-deep into his 70s, he remains an impressive singer of hard-rock, a vocal style that’s often unforgiving for vocalists as they get older.

“His intonation, his musicality, he’s not just up there screaming even though he’s known as ‘The Demon of Screamin’.’ He’s also a crooner. His sense of phrasing, you know, and in the way he delivers it, you know, t’s something that few artists can really accomplish. He’s a unicorn, man. It’s impressive.”

Of singing with Tyler onstage, Johnson says, “People throw around superlatives like genius all the time, but I think he is [one.] His ears just incredible. He hears everything. And he knows exactly what he wants, because he worked out all those parts on the albums.

“On the albums, his backing vocals are almost as loud as the lead vocal. And he insists on that kind of mix live. He loves the Everly Brothers, they’re a big influence, and you could hear both of them equally. That’s the sound that he’s looking for. I just have to come in prepared, and that’s what they count on me doing. There’s 60, 70 songs you’ve got to kind of have in your back pocket.”

Aerosmith’s decades-spanning hits include “Dream On,” “Walk This Way,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Back in the Saddle,” “Janie’s Got A Gun,” “Crazy” and “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing.” The band’s most recent album is 2012′s “Music from Another Dimension.”

Johnson’s favorite songs to play and sing with Aerosmith include ‘90s deep-cuts “Adam’s Apple” and “Lord of the Thighs.” Keyboard wise, sometimes it’s about replicating playing that’s in the background on songs like “Mama Kin.” Sometime it’s about adding new filigree or layers.

The Aerosmith gig led to work with two associated acts: Joe Perry Project, which focuses on guitar hero Perry’s solo albums and Aerosmith deep-cuts; and Hollywood Vampires, a supergroup featuring Perry, Alice Cooper and movie star/musician Johnny Depp.

“Joe’s been really good to me,” Johnson says. Live, he says Perry “plays with an unabandoned passion, almost punk rock. You never know if he’s going to take a left turn sometimes and so you just have to follow with him and stay on your feet. Those guitar riffs, that’s why he’s a legend — but they’re intricate in the arrangements and they can get a little complicated.”

Of touring with Hollywood Vampires, Johnson says, “Alice [Cooper] is amazing. He’s one of the greatest people to work with, and you learn a lot to listening and watching these guys and how they operate on and offstage.”

Johnson often gets asked about Depp’s proficiency as a musician. “They always ask me, ‘Can he really play?” Absolutely. He plays a lot of solos to the show. He’s also a great singer. And let me tell you, when he’s up there singing, it’s what all the girls come to see, to hear him sing [the Vampire’s cover of David Bowie’s song] ‘Heroes.’ He started off as a musician.”

This year after our interview, Johnson got the opportunity to tour with Beatles drummer Ringo Starr. Filling in for Edgar Winter, another of Johnson’s keyboard heroes, he’s performed in Starr’s band along with the likes of Toto/session guitarist Steve Lukather.

On Facebook, Johnson said, “It’s been a whirlwind of a ride playing with Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band. Everyone has been very kind and welcoming. So for the time being I’ll savor every moment that I’m afforded to share the stage with this amazing band and grateful for the opportunity.”

Johnson’s also part of the reunited Brother Cane, the Birmingham-founded band known for ‘90s hits like “Got No Shame” and in 2023 released their first new songs in 25 years. In addition, he cowrote country star Billy Ray Cyrus’ latest single “You Came Along” with Cyrus and Sean Kelly.

Between touring, recording and songwriting work and the upcoming Aerosmith shows, Johnson’s calendar is blissfully full with cool stuff. He says he’d love to fit in at least one show, possibly in Birmingham or Nashville, to spotlight his new solo material.

“I’m fortunate,” he says, “that a lot of people if they know me, they know my career as being the keyboard player for these bands. And that’s great. But really, I’m a singer and a songwriter, and this album and the songs will showcase that.”