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Carolyn Dawn Johnson has never doubted the power of music. And for the reigning ACM Top New Female Vocalist and newly crowned Favorite New Artist – Country at the 2003 American Music Awards, music has been at the core of her spirit ever since she was a child.
“I remember asking my mother when I was young how anyone could live without music,” recalls the Canadian-born singer-songwriter. “Music made me happy, made me cry; it soothed me. It did then, and it does now. Music still takes me to places nothing else can.” It is this perspective on music, combined with Carolyn’s exposed lyrical candor and crystal vocal brilliance, that provide the soul and passion behind Room With A View, her debut album on Arista Nashville. Carolyn’s career is not only a testament to the power music has had upon her, but it is also a personal assertion of what goal setting and remaining true to one’s self can bring about. Raised on a farm in Deadwood, Alberta, Carolyn’s dreams of music continually colored her emotional landscape. She was surrounded by music from a young age – listening to her parents’ Jim Reeves and Don Williams records, singing at church functions and school plays, playing piano and continually singing around the house. As she got older, Carolyn found herself drawn to a wide range of artists from Charley Pride and Marty Stuart to Fleetwood Mac, Jann Arden, Abba and Matraca Berg. She would write songs, make her own recordings at home and attend every concert she could. In college, she studied non-music courses, but continued to sit-in with hometown bands at night. Finally, the encouragement from local musicians began to make her think, “Maybe I can really do this. Maybe I am good enough.” When she was 20, her “maybe” turned into the first tentative steps toward the musical career she’d dreamed of - but had always feared was out of reach. “I began to see the merit in positive thinking, and I did a lot of goal-setting,” she says. “I’d ask myself, ‘what are the little steps that can get me where I want to go?’ and then I’d try to do something every single day to achieve a step or two. I’d write things down and make them come true.” Carolyn Dawn Johnson’s incredible work ethic, coupled with natural talent, has carried her in a few short years to places she only dared to dream about as a young girl. The release of Room With A View was met with amazing success. Carolyn’s debut album sold nearly 18,000 units in its first week and debuted on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart at #8, establishing Room With A View as the highest debuting album from a new artist in the history of Arista Nashville, since the inception of SoundScan. Songwriting has been a cornerstone in the story of Carolyn Dawn Johnson, penning her own hits, as well as such favorites as Chely Wright’s chart-topping “Single White Female” and Jo Dee Messina’s Top 5 smash, “Downtime.” Earning Music Row magazine’s coveted “Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year” award for 2000 offered further testament to the Alberta beauty’s continuing growth and evolution as an artist – and just six months after the Canadian release of Room With A View, Carolyn’s singles and videos for “Georgia” and “Complicated” had hit Number One in Canada. Comprised entirely of Carolyn Dawn Johnson’s writings, Room With A View is obviously the work of someone able to bring the highly personal into play while making art. “Georgia,” “Complicated,” “Room With A View,” “Masterpiece” and “One Day Closer” – in fact, her entire song list – are clearly proof that Carolyn is a master at transforming simple stories into richly detailed pictorials. Her songs create an ear-taunting soundtrack of modern day life and love: soaring harmonies, compelling vocals and searing emotional honesty. “I put everything about me out there,” Carolyn says. “That’s the way I live my life. Maybe I show too much, but I didn’t really have a choice when it came to making the record. My favorite things on the record are the really personal parts. Someone said, ‘How do you feel about exposing your innermost self like that?’ and I said, ‘I just don’t think there’s any other way to do it. I don’t think it could have been anything else. That would have been lying to my listeners and lying to myself.” Room With A View is also a vivid display of Carolyn’s impressive reputation within the Nashville music community. Notable guests on the album include Martina McBride, Marty Stuart, Kim Carnes, Matraca Berg, Al Anderson, Mary Ann Kennedy and other artists whose respect for Carolyn’s music led them to lend their singing and playing talents. “It was unbelievable to be standing there next to someone that I’ve looked up to for all these years - and realize that they were there to sing or play on my album.” All of these elements were assembled in a first-time collaboration between Carolyn and producer Paul Worley (Dixie Chicks, Martina McBride). “Paul and I met almost a year before I was signed to Arista. He offered then to produce my record – and of course, I was honored to get to work with him. Sharing a production credit is beyond anything I ever imagined. It has been a wonderful learning experience.” Carolyn’s path to recording success began in 1992 when she made the decision to make music her life career goal. “I knew I had to be in city where there was a music community, so I moved to Vancouver, British Columbia and began attending recording engineering school. Once there, I continued to set small goals and worked to meet them.” Learning the technical aspects of the business by day and continuing to write songs and waitress at night, she studied Billboard and Music Row magazine each week to learn who was who in the business. Intrigued by a TV commercial on the Nashville Network, she sent away for a songwriting video, featuring hit Nashville writers, to learn more about her craft. Through the video, she joined the Nashville Songwriters Association International and traveled to Nashville for the first time in 1994 to participate in one of its workshops. The positive feedback she received added further legitimacy to her quest. For three years, she commuted the 3000 miles between Vancouver and Nashville until she was able to obtain a work visa and move to her dream town permanently in 1997. Her talent, drive and practical, goal-setting approach opened more and more doors. She began singing demos for other writers, and began writing with some of them. Late in 1997, she signed a publishing deal with Patrick Joseph Music, home to one of her heroes, Matraca Berg, among others. In between gigs, she waited tables and tended bar at Phil Vassar’s Hard Day’s Nightclub. Late night jam sessions at Phil’s club and songwriting demos featuring her unmistakable voice began getting attention from label execs. Next, Carolyn Dawn Johnson credits began appearing as a studio vocalist on album releases for Patty Loveless, Martina McBride, Mindy McCready, Loretta Lynn and Kenny Rogers. Writing “cuts” followed for Kathy Mattea, Pam Tillis, Linda Davis and more. Then in 1999, it snowballed: a record deal, a hit single on radio with Chely Wright and an opportunity to tour as backup singer and guitarist for long time idol, Martina McBride. “My plan was to focus on writing, and then, in a year or two, aim for a record deal,” Carolyn remembers. “That happened alright - that and more! I feel like I got a few bonuses to my dream.” Reflecting on the professionals that she aligned with when she moved to Nashville, Carolyn states, “I have had a great team of people around me and a record company that didn’t try to change me. I am very lucky,” she says. “I hope Room With A View can show listeners what I’ve always believed about music – it’s powerful, it can reach into our souls, it’s important. I don’t know what I’d do without it.” It is this philosophy that makes Room With A View such a compelling opening salvo from singer-songwriter-producer Carolyn Dawn Johnson. Indeed, as Carolyn readies her sophomore collection – slated for release in late 2003 – the international success and acclaim surrounding Room With A View has led to multiple hit singles and major awards in the U.S. and Canada. Over the past two years, Carolyn has won an amazing total of eight Canadian Country Music Awards (including Album of the Year in 2001 and Female Artist of the Year in 2001 and 2002), establishing all-time records in 2001 for most nominations (10) and most wins (five) in a single night. Room With A View has been certified Gold in Canada, and in 2002, Carolyn won her first Juno Award (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy) as Best Country Artist/Group. South of the Canadian border, stateside accolades have continued to roll in, as Carolyn was named the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Female Vocalist in 2002 and was nominated later that year for the prestigious CMA Horizon Award. Having performed on the popular “Girls’ Night Out Tour” with Reba McEntire and Martina McBride in 2001, Carolyn’s concert trail in 2002 included high profile tours with Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney. Carolyn also scored another Top 10 single and video smash with “I Don’t Want You to Go,” the follow up to the beautiful “Complicated.” For Carolyn, 2003 began in grand style with yet another major award when she was named Favorite New Artist – Country Music at the 30th Annual American Music Awards. And with a new album in the offing, her AMA win offered further inspiration and affirmation that the lovely young songstress is definitely doing something right. CarolynDawnJohnson.com (Opens New Window) Source: Arista Nashville Label Profile |
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