An American dream for Canadian singer Johnson rising through country ranks

Carolyn Dawn Johnson didn’t have to go far to get a scouting report on the 152nd Springfield Fair.

One of her best buddies in country music, Phil Vassar, headlined the 151st edition last year, and she was about to meet him for a joint radio appearance while on the road this day in Holmdel, N.J.

“I don’t know much about it yet, but I’ll be sure to ask him,” she said during a telephone interview.

Country fans are just getting to know Johnson, too, and based on the success of her debut CD, “Room With A View,” most like what they are hearing.

Hits such as “Complicated,” “I Don’t Want You to Go” and her new release, “One Day Closer to You,” have propelled this farmer’s daughter from Deadwood, Alberta, into the mainstream of contemporary country singer-songwriters.

“I had high hopes for the album,” said Johnson, who will perform at the Springfield Fair on Friday, Aug. 30. “Did I reach my goals? Yes, in a lot of ways, but no in some ways.

“I wanted a platinum record and I haven’t got that yet, but really this has been a great time for me. I’m able to play all these concerts, and I meet so many people – a lot of times just for 10 seconds or so – and everybody seems to have a story they can relate to my music.”

Johnson, 31, may not have gone platinum yet, but her work has been critically acclaimed. She was named the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Female Artist in May, and is a finalist for five awards to be presented by the Canadian Country Music Association on Sept. 8. She also won the 2002 Juno – the Canadian Grammy – as Best Country Artist-Group.

Johnson’s music is laced with autobiographical detail, taking the listener on a journey through the headaches and heartbreaks of searching for the perfect soul mate.

“I guess I just put everything about me out there,” she said. “I remember when I met the new president of my record company. He told me, ‘Your music has something different. There’s a lot of sadness, a lot of bitterness, but it seems like there’s always a tinge of hope at the end of it.’ I didn’t realize it at the time he said it, but I’d like to think that’s the way my music is, that I write about my feelings, my life, but I see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Johnson took her initial plunge toward a career in music in 1992, when she left the family farm and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia. There she attended recording engineering school and learned technical aspects of the business by day while writing songs and waitressing at night.

A TV ad introduced her to a video featuring Nashville songwriters discussing their craft. She ordered the video, and soon joined the Nashville Songwriters Association International, making the cross-continental trip to Nashville for the first time in 1994 to participate in one of its workshops. For the next three years, she commuted the 3,000 miles between Vancouver and Nashville until she was able to obtain a work visa and move to the American country capital permanently.

In late 1997 she signed with a publishing house, yet to eke out a living she bartended, waitressed and performed at Vassar’s Hard Day’s Nightclub – while both were beginning to transform their songwriting expertise into increased exposure.

“Using our songwriting was the way Phil and I went about it,” Johnson said. “But there are a lot of people trying to make it in Nashville who aren’t songwriters, so they play other people’s stuff to try to be heard. Phil and I were lucky in that we were able to get other people to sing our music through our publishing companies, and as people got to know our names we hoped one day they might hear us perform and think, ‘She sings pretty well, too.'”

Among Johnson’s early songwriting successes were “Single White Female,” which became a hit for Chely Wright in 1999, and Jo Dee’s Messina “Down Time.” Those songs led to Johnson being named Music Row magazine’s Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year in 2000.

At the same time, Johnson was establishing herself as studio vocalist on CDs by Patty Loveless, Martina McBride, Mindy McCready, Loretta Lynn and Kenny Rogers. She eventually landed a job as a backup singer and guitarist in McBride’s touring band, a relationship that evolved in 2001 when Johnson opened for the “Girls’ Night Out” tour headlined by McBride and Reba McEntire.

“It was a little tough, because you’d only get three songs,” Johnson said. “I’d be just getting warming up, and then I’d be done. But I had no choice; I just needed to try and make an impact in the time I was out there on stage. Martina and Reba demanded that; they had to do the same thing when they were coming up in the business.

“I just wanted to go out there and hit ’em between the eyes.”

Opening for Vassar, Kenny Chesney and Alan Jackson with extended sets this year has given Johnson even more of an opportunity to grow as a performer. But there’s nothing quite like being the star of the show, which Carolyn Dawn Johnson says is still a work in progress.

“The big thing about my music is the lyrics,” said Johnson, who hopes to release her second CD next spring. “Whether they’re serious or I’m being bratty or having fun with them, I just want to keep the audience interested and make sure they enjoy their night out.”

The Carolyn Dawn Johnson concert at the 152nd Springfield Fair on Friday, Aug. 30, begins at 7 p.m. with a performance by The Don Campbell Band.