Carolyn Dawn Johnson

(Q)-First off, what does the term ‘country music’ mean to Carolyn Dawn Johnson personally?

Carolyn Dawn Johnson (CDJ)- Gosh. I think country (music) is still about great lyrics and still about real life situations. Country music is about great storytelling. Country at times is sad, because there is a lot of sad things in this world and as a songwriter and an artist we’re just facing reality. I think musically as far as the instrumentation, country is expanding into new horizons and trying not to stay the same all of the time. Because I don’t think that any (musical) genre stays the same.

(Q)-Is country music now more about the song then the image of the singer which is then projected via mass media out to an audience?

(CDJ)- Country for me is still about the song and it’s down to the roots of what that song is about.

(Q)- And, reality oriented songs.
(CDJ)- Absolutely. I mean, do people go out and buy the fluff? Not very often. Country music to me is still about good song and song with lyrics that are about reality.

(Q)- Country music is about life experiences expressed in song.

(CDJ)- Some people say, ‘How old are you?’, and my reply is, I’m old enough to have lived through everything that is on this record. I’m thirty years old and none of this is fabricated (the lyrical content on her album ,”Room With A View”.

(Q)- You’ve definitely got a country music background.

(CDJ)- My first concert was Charlie Pride, my second was Johnny Cash.

(Q)- So even if you do draw from other influences, your primary influence as a songwriter and recording artist is one of a country artist. Now your album “Room With A View”, is autobiographical, according to the press materials. Isn’t that a difficult position to be in at times due to the sense of transparency, or raw honesty of the song lyrics?
(CDJ)- It is a little scary sometimes but, when I play in front of an audience and they’re real fans, they appreciate that.

(Q)- How do you know that?
(CDJ)- I’m really active on the Internet with fans, web boards and my official site. I go in and check out what they’re talking about. I’ll drop in and leave them notes. And I’ll talk to them through chat rooms. Then, when I’m out playing, there isn’t a night that goes by without somebody grabbing me or yelling at me something about a song, or the album. And, they have all of their own little stories where they relate to certain songs on my album. Now, I don’t know how many people are out there relating to me at that level, but I feel like because the song are real that somebody is going to relate to me and that people are picking up what it is that I am trying to communicate. Because, somebody, besides me, has had to have gone through these experiences.

(Q)- Is it important for you to have your song lyrics relating to the listener with some depth and a degree of resonance.

(CDJ)- Yes. Absolutely. I didn’t go off and when I wrote these songs and say, “OK, if I stay completely real, then that is how I’m going to appeal to everybody.’ It (The songwriting process for Carolyn) wasn’t about that. I had to make the music that is the most important to me. Because part of you (herself) lives in this small, little bit of fear that what if you never get to make another record.

(Q)- Putting yourself in the first person within the mix of the lyrics is tough at times. As opposed to writing lyrics in the third person.

(CDJ)- I’ve had people who, wrote reviews (of her new album) that were not necessarily good, but that is something that I knew somewhat would probably happen. And I am a sensitive person (she laughs) so it does kind of hurt my feelings, because those are real things that I’m singing about. But, I also know that I personally don’t love everything on this planet either. So, not everybody is going to love everything that you do. I am very proud of this album and that we remained true to the songs. The making of this record was one of the most beautiful things that I’ve ever done. It was just so fun. We had some moments of tears, we also laughed a lot. We though that maybe we were going to hit the wall sometimes whenever we couldn’t find out what was wrong with something! (she laughs) I mean there’s so many steps of fear in this whole business. There certainly is. But for me, even though I do have those fears, I believe that you have step on them and just take those risks, then move on and take those risks anyway. There’s a song on my album called, “Love Is Always Worth The Ache”, and that song talks about taking risks, both little and big. After all, if you take risks or not, you’re going to get hurt along the way. It’s inevitable. It is worth it all however, whenever you succeed.

(Q)- It is worth it just for the pursuit of the righteous endeavor?
(CDJ)- Absolutely. I think about that, I’ve always been one of those people who reads books on positive power and I’ve always mentally taken a grasp of some of my goal setting. And, I’ve always read things that stated,’ It’s not the end result, it is the journey’. I think about the last ten years when I said,’ Mom. I’m going to be a country singer.’ And then I look back on what has happened in these ten years (she laughs). I’ve had a great time doing it! When I was first living in Nashville bartending and cleaning houses, there was always something for me that was way above that that made the work not even seem all that hard.

(Q)- That’s why while you were living in, “real world”, life experiences, you actually were drawing from those experiences for your song lyrics.
(CDJ)- Yes.

(Q)- Do receive feedback from your fans?
(CDJ)- Yes, I certainly do.

(Q)- How does that translate to your performances?

(CDJ)- Performing is something that is important to me. I want to be known as an intepeter. When I sing my songs live, I wanted people to be able to feel what I’m singing and talking about. So that is important for me and my live performances. The biggest thing for me growing up with music all of my life is that you have this sensibility inside your subconscious about what commercial stuff is. And, while you hope it is commercial, you don’t actually sit down and say,’Well, I’ve created a commercial album.” I don’t think that I’ve done this with my record. At the time I made this album I was very fortunate with that fact that I could do whatever it was I decided to do. I don’t think I aimed to be exactly who I am right now, it just evolved into who I was and became who I was. The singing and the songwriting was something that was interwoven for me. I’m a singer first, as far as that I started writing in my teens and that became a part of what I did as a singer and then later on, my songwriting opened doors (in Nashville) into country music. So whenever I recorded the songs for this album, all that I cared about was the songs that were on this records and the stories behind the songs on the album. That’s why I was so thankful that nobody asked me to do anything, outside of what I’d written, (or she co-wrote) because all I cared about was the stories and things that I put on the record (she laughs). There is certain songs on the record that I feel like people need to hear because I want them to hear the message of the song. Because I want them to feel that there’s hope. Like the song, “One Day Closer To You”, while it’s a fun song, I cannot tell you how many times people have come up to me and said, “This is my girlfriends and I most favorite song, it’s our theme song!” We’re just hoping that we’re going to find that right person (man) for our lives. And I’m like, ‘That’s why I wrote it.’

(Q)- That shows the goal of communicating to your audience is being achieved. Yet, you’re involved in radio airplay and that is all about the statastistics and if those numbers are in your favor.
(CDJ)- That’s right. I was just telling my mom the other day,” If the stats are I my favor, I want to hear about it. But if the stats are not in my for, then I don’t want to know about them!’ (she laughs) I mean the whole thing is so crazy. It’s like how can this business of music, which I know is a business and I know it’s half (business) and half (music), be so much about the statistics? But there are times when it’s just crazy to me.

(Q)- Relating to the audience live is the most important aspect for many song writers who are performers.
(CDJ)- Yes it surely is.

(Q)- To change the subject, what are you looking to do for the next few months leading into the first month of 2002?
(CDJ)- We’ve got a bunch of radio shows and we’re trying to do some more intimate shows with artists who are in today’s country format and who are like me. We’re also exploring different areas for my music. I just want to get out and play my music in front of people and just build that grassroots foundation.