Biography

Kevin Johansen (born 21 June 1964) is an US-born Argentine musician and singer-songwriter. He is known for mixing several rhythms and languages in his musical work. Kevin Johansen was born on June 21, 1964, in Fairbanks, Alaska, to Marta Gloria Calvet and Kent Johansen. Marta Calvet was an Argentine feminist and polyglot; she met Kent Johansen while studying in Denver. They moved to Alaska and lived there until Kevin was 5 years old. In 1969, they moved to Phoenix where his sister Karina was born. His parents got divorced soon after, and the mother and children moved to San Francisco.His mother remarried a Mexican painter, but in time the relationship became abusive and she decided to leave her husband and the US in 1976. Johansen spent his teenage years between Buenos Aires and Montevideo. In 1990 he married an Argentine ballerina in Buenos Aires, and the young couple moved to New York so she could continue her dance studies. Johansen worked as waiter, tourist guide and translator for a while, until he got a chance to start performing regularly at CBGB and got his musical career on track.