Meet Tam Johnstone, son of Captain Fantastic

No need to gawk at Nicole Richie on TV anymore, and anybody who has seen Traci Hunter live, practically dressed as her old man (Mott the Hoople's Ian), will know how freakish rock star offspring who perform can be. They're doomed to a fishbowl life, forever compared, dissected and accused of a privileged upbringing, and then they spend their adulthoods untangling bizarre childhoods. Poor Julian and Sean Lennon, can you imagine being son of Superman? 

This guy Tam Johnstone, child of Elton John guitar hero Davey Johnstone, from what I can tell, steps clear from such stereotypes. 

Papa Johnstone has played with Dame Elton full time since '72's Honky Chateau album, though he did play on a few tunes on Madonna Across the Water the previous year. That means that Tam's dad played on "Tiny Dancer," "Rocket Man," "Crocodile Rock," "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," "Candle in the Wind," "Benny and the Jets," and so many more. Davey Johnstone invented and played some of the most recognizable, beautifully melodic guitar licks in rock 'n' roll. His kid, by a freaky accident, lives in Dearborn.

Tam Johnstone is 41 now, and not a kid at all, but he has no problems remembering that his parents split when he was very young, and that he spent his early years moving around London. 

"We moved around quite a lot," Johnstone says. "I grew up in Richmond, then we moved to Ealing, then Finsbury Park, and we gravitated north to Camden. My parents were not together for long, and when I was young things really took off for my dad. Eventually, I moved to Cornwall. My uncle has a recording studio there, so it was a chance to learn more about the recording world."

Johnstone remembers starting to play drums on an Animal (from the Muppets) kit when he was 2 or 3 years old, and living with his mom when his parents split. "My mom became a set director in the movies," he says. "I went from music studios to film studios. She was also doing a textiles course at the same time as Budgie. I was introduced to the whole new wave thing. I went to boarding school and I didn't like it much but I got obsessed with Depeche Mode, Yazz, Madness and the Specials."

What was it like growing up with Captain Fantastic for a father? "My dad joined Elton's band around the Honky Chateau album," he says. "I remember being at the studio while they were making Captain Fantastic. I met a lot of amazing people, but I was very young so I don't remember. John Lennon, Joni Mitchell and people like that. I remember bits and pieces of traveling around. Dad's not an Eddie Van Halen sort of shredder, but he has a melodic style. His whole vibe was George Harrison — they were all huge Beatles fans. He came up with memorable solos .... His roots are in folk music, and I think that comes across in the melodies. Whenever Rolling Stone does a list of the top 100 guitarists, I half expect him to be there."

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