| Johnson described her signing with Arista
Nashville as a natural progression. Publisher Pat Higdon of
Patrick Joseph Music (now with Universal) saw something
special in her combination of writing and performing. “My
voice was going through the door on my demos and eventually
the record companies started to notice. When I sat down with
my publisher, we set goals for each year, and I was not
going to go for a record deal until I got certain goals
accomplished, because it’s a lot harder for a recording
artist to go back and get a songwriting deal.” By 1999,
Johnson had her record deal. Also in 1999, Johnson had the opportunity to work with Martina McBride. “A producer I was working with (Paul Worley) was also working with Martina and he called me to do background vocals on her record, so I sang on her record and then she said, ‘hey, do you want to come out on the road with me?’” Although Johnson was working on her own album, she found time to perform onstage with McBride. “I ended up staying with her for over a year because it was so much fun. We really enjoyed working together.” As a songwriter, Johnson, along with co-writer Shaye Smith, penned “Single White Female,” for artist Chely Wright. The song went to #1, a first for both Wright and Johnson. Jo Dee Messina’s top five smash, “Downtime” became another triumph. In addition, such Nashville notables as Pam Tillis, SheDaisy and Kathy Mattea have recorded Johnson’s songs. Music Row Magazine named Johnson “Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year” for 2000. Johnson’s own debut album, Room With a View featured guest performances from McBride, Kim Carnes, Marty Stuart and Matraca Berg, and opened at #8 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums. “Complicated,” a single from the album, charted at #5 in the U.S. and went to #1 in Canada, along with another song titled “Georgia.” continued » |