For Asheville, North Carolina’s Johnson’s Crossroad, 2010 got off to an auspicious start. With boxes of their newly pressed record Blood in Black and White in hand, the band was heading to Mo’Daddy’s for their cd release party when life in Asheville came to a standstill, the town virtually crippled by a snowstorm. Instead of playing to a packed house, Johnson’s Crossroad ushered the new year in by playing for a handful of die hard fans who braved the elements and treacherous roads to make it to the show.

“There weren’t many people there, but we still had a good time,” says Keith Minguez, mandolin player and vocalist for the band. For Minguez and Paul Johnson - singer, guitarist, songwriter, and driving force behind the band that bears his name – the snowy beginnings of 2010 hinted that the year could only get better.

And get better is exactly what it did.

Formed some six years ago in the mountains of West Virginia and tested by over half a decade on the road, the passion that Minguez and Johnson share for their own acoustic crossroad – a meeting place of honest, soulful music that draws deeply from bluegrass, old country, and Appalachian old time - has brought Johnson’s Crossroad to the forefront of the North Carolina music scene.

2010 proved to be a watershed year for the band. Minguez and Johnson added bass player Chris Weller to the fold, and – often joined by longtime friend and collaborator Corey Lee McQuade - played over 100 shows. Johnson’s Crossroad established itself as a fixture on the festival circuit, playing MerleFest, FloydFest, and the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, and the band also took its second tour through the Northeast, playing gigs in Boston, the Rodeo Bar in New York City, and even Nectar’s, the vaunted music hall in Burlington, Vermont.

“Those festivals and our tour up north were all great experiences,” says Minguez. “People knew we were coming and they were looking forward to hearing us play. They were waiting for us when we got there. That felt great.”

Just as the band did in 2010, Johnson’s Crossroad will welcome in 2011 with a new record, Mockingbird. Scheduled to release in March, Mockingbird has the band looking forward to what 2011 has in store.

“It sounds like we found something on this record,” says Minguez, “and we are really excited about it. There’s a total evolution going on, and, for the first time, I feel like we are musicians. That’s a pretty cool thing.”