Fast-rising Santa Clarita Valley rock-pop singer-songwriter Johnny Strat debuts brand-new songs on the next premiere edition of SCVTV’s “House Blend,” the WAVE award-nominated music-and-interview program hosted by veteran Santa Clarita music journalist Stephen K. Peeples.

The half-hour show will air on SCVTV (Channel 20 in the Santa Clarita Valley and AT&T U-Verse 99 in Los Angeles and Orange counties) and stream on the Web at www.scvtv.com on Saturday, May 11 starting at 10 p.m. Pacific Time.

Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, the 22-year-old Strat (real name John Stratton) sings his latest single, “Sixteen,” introduces his latest video, “As Long As I Belong to You,” and performs a pair of new songs he hasn’t even recorded yet: “Take it All” and “I Will Stay.”

In the interviews between songs, Strat and Peeples talk about the artist’s early musical inspirations, forming a band with mostly fellow music students Azusa Pacific University and developing a following, studying music production, and finishing his first full-length album.

Strat plans to include all four songs performed on “House Blend” on the as-yet-untitled album. He has already recorded several songs and has final sessions slated for this summer. He graduates from APU in June with a degree in music production.

Strat grew up in North Hills and the Santa Clarita Valley, and graduated from L.A. Baptist High School in 2009. He made an auspicious recording debut with a well-received EP in 2008, before he began attending APU in Azusa, east of Pasadena.

Saturday marks Strat’s second “House Blend” appearance; he and his band guested on Feb. 15, 2011. Watch the video here.

The Johnny Strat Band’s next gig is May 17 at the Wire Music & Art Venue, 247 N. 2nd Ave., Upland 91786. Call 909-985-9466.

Find out more about Strat at his official website and Facebook page.

About SCVTV’s ‘House Blend’ with Stephen K. Peeples
Peeples books, researches and writes “House Blend,” and co-produces the show with SCVTV studio director Megan Perez at the SCVTV Media Center in Newhall, Calif. Perez also directs the show, assisted by SCVTV’s Austin Dave, sound engineer Mike Mazzetti and the studio staff. Leon Worden, SCVTV president/CEO, is the series’ executive producer.

Now in its third season, “House Blend” premiered on SCVTV in September 2010 and airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. Pacific Time, with an encore Thursdays at the same time.

Watch “House Blend” in the Santa Clarita Valley on Time Warner Cable Channel 20, throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties on AT&T U-Verse Channel 99, or streaming on the Web everywhere else at www.scvtv.com.

In addition, all “House Blend” programs produced to date — more than 30 original editions with music and interviews and a dozen all-music best-of compilations — are archived and viewable on demand; click here.

A series highlight is the May 2011 “House Blend” program featuring folk-country-bluegrass legends Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen; the show was one of three finalists for a WAVE award from the Western Alliance for Community Media. Read more here.

For booking, sponsorship and other information about “House Blend,” email houseblend@scvtv.com.
Stephen K. Peeples is a features writer/reporter and photographer for KHTS Radio News (hometownstation.com) and SCVNews.com. He also writes the occasional “Peeples Place at KHTS” blog post. He is host, writer and co-producer of the weekly “House Blend” music and interview television show on SCVTV, community television for the Santa Clarita Valley (scvhouseblend.com).In addition, he delivers the “SCV Entertainment Minute” Wednesday night during SCVTV’s NewsBreak evening news program. Previously, he was a music/entertainment features writer and columnist for The Signal (2004-2011), and the paper’s CNPA-award-winning online editor (2007-2011). Raised in Southern Florida and Southern California and a rock-jazz drummer since age 12, Peeples is a Grammy-nominated record producer (“Monterey International Pop Festival,” MIPF/Rhino, 1992) and an award-winning radio producer (Radio Festival of New York for “The Lost Lennon Tapes,” Westwood One, 1988-1990). Contact him atstephen@hometownstation.com or visit stephenkpeeples.com.