Paige King Johnson in Her Own Words

Interview By Lauren Elizabeth Campbell, Editor-in-Chief

Singer-songwriter Paige King Johnson moved to Nashville from her small town of Angier, North Carolina in 2015 to study music at Belmont University. Music City provided her freedom to meet other writers and try out material on stages, such as the legendary Bluebird Cafe. Now a recent college graduate, Johnson is making a name for herself within country music. Get to know the country artist:

Where did your love of music come from?

Music has been part of my life since I can remember. I grew up singing in my church and was taking piano lessons at the age of 6. My dad actually was a drummer in a few different bands during his teenage years, but he never pursued it as a career like I have done. My mom was in her high school choir and part of her church choir, but nothing outside of that. I truly do think that with both my parents just being fans of music and always having it playing when I was younger had a huge influence on me and my passion for music.

How would you describe your music?

My music is country through and through. I grew up listening to classic artists such as Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, and Waylon Jennings and fell in love with the ways in which they told stories in their songs. I love the simple instrumentation and production in those older songs, and I strive to recreate those sounds in a modern way in my own music.

I would say my music, without a doubt, leans toward the more honky-tonk, classic side of the country spectrum, with a lot of steel guitar, barroom piano and other cool sounds that are so evident in the country music of the past. My songwriting is very similar to the storytelling side of country music as well.

You've been singing on stages since the age of 12, is there a particular performance that stands out amongst the rest?

That's a hard one! Probably the most recent notable one was a music festival I just finished producing in my hometown of Angier, North Carolina. I had been dreaming of starting a music festival there for a few years and had all plans of having it this past May. Once COVID hit, we had to postpone and I spent months not playing any stage at all.

Once we were finally able to reschedule the festival for August, it had been over 6 months since I had played with my band. Being able to get back on stage with all the guys and play a full show for a live audience that was able to socially distance and enjoy themselves was one of the sweetest and rewarding feelings I've had in a while!

Describe your songwriting process.

My writing process varies day to day. I generally do my best thinking and get most of my ideas either when I'm out on walks or in conversation with other people. Because of that, I always have my phone or something with me to be able to jot things down as they come to me. But, during quarantine I've been taking a lot of time to go on daily walks to help spark that creativity, which I've found has been a really productive way of getting new ideas. Whether it's lyrics that will come to me, or a melody idea that I can work through while walking - it's really become one of my favorite ways of gathering thoughts.

And then when I actually go about the writing of a song, I love co-writing with friends of mine. I have a circle of people that I love writing with and that we each just get each other on a music level. We usually will throw out different ideas we've had over the course of a few months and talk through what we think they could be within the walls of a song, and usually go with whatever idea we both feel like we can relate to the most at the time.

I, personally, really love the melody side of writing and so I usually try to have at least a general idea of a melody in my head so I know what kind of mood to write lyrics to.

Songwriting is such a creative and freeflowing thing that you can't rush or force, so it's a process and sometimes a song doesn't get finished in one write but it's always worth the extra time to make it right.

Who would you most like to collaborate with?

There are so many artists and songwriters that I look up to and dream of collaborating with, but my top two would probably be Loretta Lynn and Lori McKenna. Loretta has been, and always will be, my country music idol. To get to work with her on a project or to play a show with her would be an absolute dream!

Lori is my songwriting idol in every way possible - the way she can craft a story that is so relatable to a person in every aspect is such a special thing that I admire about her. I've wanted, for many years, to be able to collaborate with her through songwriting and production, and I'm determined to make it happen one day!

What are you most proud of so far in your career?

I'm most proud of how far I've come and how much road I still have ahead of me as an artist and a songwriter.

I started playing guitar and really singing for people almost 13 years ago, and to think back on that little girl and how naive she was is such a funny thing to me. I would have never thought back then that I would be able to grow up and write and play music as my job every day.

Over the past few years, I've been able to travel all over the United States and outside of the country to play shows and meet new people that I probably would have never been able to do if it weren't for my career. And I get to make my own path each day and create music that I want other to hear and sing along to, which is something I deeply value.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Five years from now, I know I will still be just as engulfed in music as I am now hopefully even more. I see myself out on the road more with my band, going to new cities each night and playing shows to fans that are singing my songs back to me from the seats they're in.

I hope to still be able to give back to my hometown community with live music opportunities for young artists who are on the same path I was once on. I see myself not only excelling in my career, but also in my personal life with my friends and family and someone to share my life with, and my spiritual life staying true to myself and the values I hold dear.

Keep up with Paige King Johnson on Instagram @paigekingjohnson and stream her single "Just Like You, " wherever music is available.

Just Like You

Paige King Johnson