Nashville, TN (Equity
Music Group) -
Carolyn Dawn Johnson has signed to Equity
Music Group, as announced today by label president Mike Kraski. The artist has already completed work on a new CD, titled Love & Negotiation, which is scheduled to hit stores in November of this year. The title track is also the first single, and has just shipped to country radio.
'Carolyn Dawn is a perfect fit to the philosophy of Equity,' noted Kraski. 'She is an artist in the truest sense of the word – a prolific songwriter and a passionate singer. She already has a fully formed image of who she is as an artist and where she wants to go with her music. This new recording is one I fell in love with the moment I heard it – from the opening song, it resonates with attitude, sensitivity and passion.'
'Making this record was a very challenging and exciting journey for me,' Johnson said. 'Without having an official deal in place when I began the recording process, I decided to go ahead and get started on it myself. I stretched in areas I hadn't expected to and I got to make the record I wanted to make. I'm not sure there is a greater feeling than that.'
Acknowledging that finding the right home for the music Johnson had recorded was essential, manager Scott Welch brought the finished project to Kraski and Equity.
'In a time when our business is changing, Carolyn and I felt that the incredible team Mike Kraski has assembled at Equity would give us an artistic home,' Welch noted. 'After meeting the staff, we felt that they have an independent spirit combined with the experience and clout of the major labels. When you mix that experience, integrity and passion, you have all the ingredients for success.'
In 2000, Johnson released her first album, Room With A View, and set the bar immediately when that recording became the highest debuting album by a new artist in Arista/Nashville history. The album produced two Top 10 hits: 'I Don't Want You To Go' and 'Complicated,' and led to a bevy of awards and honors, including Music Row Magazine's 2000 Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year and a remarkable 13 Canadian Country Music Awards, including CCMA honors as the 2001 and 2002 Female Artist of the Year. In 2002, Johnson picked up her first Juno Award while the Academy of Country Music named her Top New Female Vocalist.
As a writer, Johnson's songs have long been sought after by some of music's most celebrated artists, including Jo Dee Messina, Patty Loveless, Kathy Mattea and Pam Tillis. In 1999, Chely Wright scored a #1 hit with the Johnson-penned 'Single White Female,' and simultaneously Martina McBride asked Johnson to tour with her as her background vocalist and acoustic guitar player.
In 2003, Johnson was named Favorite New Artist in the Country category at the American Music Awards. A second album titled Dress Rehearsal followed in 2004.
Love & Negotiation was self-produced by Johnson, with Dan Huff lending additional production work to four of the album's twelve tracks.
Pictured from L to R – Back row: Tim Wipperman, Chief Creative Officer; Kathleen Chandler of Scott Welch Management Inc.; Derek Simon, Senior VP Marketing & Artist Development
Front row: Mike Kraski, President; Carolyn Dawn Johnson; Charles Sussman, Label Partner; David Haley, Senior VP National Radio Promotion
