Johnny Lee Middleton

American bassist (born 1963)

Johnny Lee Middleton (born May 7, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the bass guitarist for the heavy metal bands Savatage and Trans Siberian Orchestra.

Middleton was born in St. Petersburg, Florida. His first experience as a performing musician was as first chair trumpet in the sixth grade orchestra. The band director provided early encouragement. "I'd get free lessons from him, so I learned how to play the saxophone, the clarinet, [and] the oboe. He kind of gave me an ear for music." As a bass player, however, Middleton is largely self taught. At age 14, he joined the high school jazz band. With the bass rig behind him, he quickly discovered "the way the bass moves the earth" He invested $35 in his first bass, locked himself in his bedroom with REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick, and Black Sabbath records, and learned to play along. That year, Wacholz spotted Middleton onstage with Lefty at a local club. Although the Lefty image was a far cry from that of the hard edged Savatage, Middleton's talent and stage presence caught Wacholz' attention. Wacholz passed Middleton's name to Savatage founder and singer Jon Oliva. Like Wacholz, Oliva had little interest in the Lefty look, but he too was impressed with Middleton's performance. When invited to join Savatage, however, Middleton turned the offer down. The members of Savatage all worked other jobs, and Middleton's Lefty gig paid well enough to live on without the need for outside work. "Steve [Wacholz] approached me and offered me the bass gig. I said, 'I'm not going to [work] a day job – I'm making $250 a week.' For me, being 19 20 years old, that was good money. I said, 'When you can offer me a salary, come back and see me. The Savatage branded "Christmas Eve" made it on the air in only a few markets that year. But in those markets it garnered an impressive response – so impressive that producer O'Neill decided to build an entirely new project upon the song's larger than life combination of hard rock music and classical arrangements. In the summer of 1996, the members of Savatage, including Middleton, returned to the studio with O'Neill. Joined by a full orchestra and multiple singers, the band recorded Christmas Eve and Other Stories, a concept album which told the story of an angel descending to earth to search for the true meaning of Christmas. In late 1996, an unknown group called Trans Siberian Orchestra released their first single, "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24," to more than 300 radio stations across the United States. Very few station managers had any idea that the same song had landed on their desks the year before. Even fewer knew that the new Trans Siberian Orchestra was, in fact, essentially an extension of Savatage. "Christmas Eve" hit the airwaves, and the phone lines lit up nationwide. Largely on the strength of that song, Christmas Eve and Other Stories has since sold nearly 3 million copies and launched the TSO empire. Since 1996, TSO has released four more albums – The Christmas Attic (1998), Beethoven's Last Night (2000), The Lost Christmas Eve (2004), and Night Castle (2009) – all of which feature Middleton on bass. Together, they have sold nearly 4 million copies. Middleton has also performed with TSO's annual holiday tour since its inception. In 2008 alone, the two Trans Siberian Orchestra touring companies combined played nearly 150 shows for over 1 million people. Savatage started Trans Siberian Orchestra because of some issues and difficulties.

In early 2008, Middleton began to try his hand at making music on his own. He soon discovered that songwriting "was like opening up another side of my mind that I never knew existed." He took several raw tracks to singer and long time friend John Haikara who added lyrics, vocals and lead guitar. The tracks were then mixed by Jim Morris at Tampa,Fl famed Morrisound Studios. Drums were added by Mike Dillon veteran Tampa Bay rocker. His first two solo singles, "Tennessee" and "Broken Wings," were released in late 2008.