Johnny A., James Montgomery Band and Ernie

and the Automatics play Lynn Auditorium FridayBy Debra Glidden / The Daily ItemLYNN – Get ready to rock with Johnny A., the James Montgomery Band and Ernie and the Automatics.Some of the greatest Boston area musicians are scheduled to the stage at Lynn City Hall Memorial Auditorium on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m.Johnny A., a native of Malden, is considered one of America’s finest contemporary guitarists, for whom Gibson designed a signature edition guitar.At six years old, Johnny became fascinated with the drums and even playing in his junior high marching band and when he was a teen he took up guitar. Johnny said a $49 Lafayette Electronics guitar was his first girlfriend. After seeing the Beatles at Suffolk Downs, Johnny started doing odd jobs at his aunt’s hair salon so he could buy an $88 Vox Clubman guitar. Even though Johnny A. attended Berklee School of Music briefly he was largely self-schooled at home and in Boston’s club scene.In the mid 1970’s Johnny A. formed The Streets, a leather-clad hard rock band that embraced the sounds of 1960’s British pop. From there he went on to form Johnny A.’s Hidden Secret and Hearts on Fire. Not long after that band broke up, Johnny A hooked up with J. Geils band front man Peter Wolf and played with him for seven years before launching his solo career.Ernie and the Automatics includes drummer Sib Hashian and guitarist Barry Goudreau, who are two of the founding members of the legendary rock band Boston.The band is named after Ernie Boch Jr., the Bay State automotive retailer. Boch is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music and after playing guitar in a number of bands he met Hashian and Goudreau. Saxophonist Michael Antunes, bass player Tim Archibald and Brian Maes on keyboard and vocals complete the group. The band has opened for notable headliners including B.B. King, James Cotton, Johnny Winter, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Chuck Berry, America and the Fabulous Thunderbirds.Goudreau said the show in Lynn is the first stop in its search for a national audience.”No question we’re big in New England,”he said. “But now is the time for us to make our move. We’ve got a national sound.”The group, whose members have collectively sold more than 30 million records released its first CD “Low Expectations” in February. It features all original material, which band members describe as either rock with a blues edge or blues with a rock edge.Blues legend James Montgomery rounds out the show. The Detroit native learned to wail on the harmonica at the Chessmate from the masters including James Cotton and John Lee Hooker. He formed his band in 1970 when he was a student at Boston University and within two years a couple of years his groups was one of the most sought after acts in Boston. the James Montgomery band was among the hottest acts in Boston along with J. Geils and Aerosmith, and they were quickly signed to a multi-album deal with Capricorn Records.