Who Is Naomi Johnson? The Story Behind Her Journey to Country Music

Today’s spotlight shines on an incredibly talented singer-songwriter with a unique story to share. Naomi Johnson, formerly of Runaway June, recently re-introduced herself to the world as a solo artist. With talent that rivals anyone in the industry and armed with a story to tell, Johnson is ready for the world to know her. We chatted with the songstress about her upbringing, her journey in music, and where she is now. Keep reading to learn more!

“I am one of eleven kids, I was born in rural northern Virginia. I grew up pretty different from most people,” began Johnson, who went on to share her story of living amongst the Amish, as well as eventually a hippie cult. “My dad was a park ranger, and my mom was a midwife to the Amish community around that area, so we lived in very close proximity to the Amish and Mennonites. […] In order to kind of be living amongst them, you have to kind of look like them and live like them, sort of, so we lived very plainly, and lived off the land.”

When she was young, her family left that life to pursue a more nomadic one. “We ended up selling everything that we owned, and my dad renovated a school bus, and we started traveling around the United States in this school bus with me and my eight brothers and sisters, my two parents, and my family dog, and we lived in state parks and national parks. Then we ended up in this crazy hippie cult, and that’s where I ended up learning to play guitar, and that’s where music came into my life.”

At just eight years old, music became her solace. “I learned how to play guitar from a little girl my age,” shared Johnson, adding, “I was born with a song in my heart. My mom told me that I would even hum when I would nurse. I was always very artistic and imaginative, and I would always sing and stuff.”

“When I was about eleven years old, a really close friend of ours gave me an Alison Krauss CD, and I had just started listening to the radio a bit, and my dad really loved the Allman Brothers Band and Brooks & Dunn, so I started to get introduced to country radio through my dad. But this friend of ours who gave me the Alison Krauss CD, I was just blown away, I wore it out.”

Eventually, her family escaped the cult; however, Johnson still had the responsibility of caring for her younger siblings, as well as helping her family make ends meet financially.

The Turning Point:

Despite loving music, Johnson continued singing on street corners and gigging in restaurants to help pay the bills. “I went from playing on my guitar for gas money and food when I was nine to when we moved and got out of the bus, and my parents got divorced, I started gigging in restaurants and stuff to help pay the electric bill. […] Then a few years passed, and I met a few other kids doing the same thing, so I felt really secure there,” she shared.

Although she fell in love with artists like Shania Twain and Dolly Parton, who she saw herself in because of their stories, Johnson still didn’t believe that “people like her” could make music for a living. However, when she met someone who finally gave her the push she needed, her world expanded for good.

“I barely have a sixth-grade education. I never went to school, so college wasn’t an option, but I met someone, I met a songwriter, Rob Hatch, in Nashville, who became one of my biggest mentors and best friends. He was the first person I knew at all, or even adjacent to the music business. […] I played my guitar for them and a couple of songs, and he told me to move to Nashville,” she said. “I needed one person to say that this is the path you can take.”

Johnson spent the summer in Alaska working to save up money, and promptly moved to Nashville right after, landing a job at Tootsie’s in her first week in Music City.

“I learned how to be in a band, play with a band, and perform for big, drunk crowds. It was like baptism by fire,” she shared, adding later that she eventually started working at Tootsie’s in the airport, too. Eventually, she landed a single cut on a Tyler Farr record without a publishing deal, and people in Nashville started noticing her. “That’s what cracked the door for me into the industry world and me being able to get meetings and stuff.”

One thing led to another, and Johnson was asked to be the lead singer of a new girl group named Runaway June. “We had great success, we did seven years of touring, and we made some money, and had some hits, and it was great,” she shared. “We started writing music again [after the pandemic], and I found that I was at this point in my life where I wanted to write about my life, and that was in my heart to write about. These weren’t songs for the band, unfortunately. These were not songs that Runaway June was going to do.”

It was time Johnson embarked on her solo journey.

Today:

Flash forward to today, Johnson is doing exactly what she set out to do many years ago: share her story as a solo artist. Earlier this year, she embarked on sharing her truth with the world by releasing her song, “Bricks Make Houses.”

“I chose ‘Bricks Make Houses’ as the first one to come with because I felt like I had this story to tell people, and it could be a lot of information, and I was like, how do I start this? I decided to start this at the beginning, when my musical journey started in that school bus,” shared Johnson. “My story is dotted and checkered, there’s a lot of pain and really hard times and tragedy, but there’s also triumph and victory and a heroic story of efforts. I wanted to paint both of them because there’s a duality.”

“Bricks Make Houses” showcases the resiliency and strength that are part of the fabric of what makes Naomi Johnson who she is. Her follow-up single, “Mama Ain’t Jesus,” showcases her fiery maternal instinct. While the singer may have helped to raise her siblings, becoming a mother to her baby girl ignited a newfound flame inside of her, something she wanted to share with her fan base.

“I wanted to put that one out because Mother’s Day was coming up, and I’m a new mom. I have this maternal instinct that’s been turned on for me for a long time because of my younger siblings, and it’s been more of a sibling relationship with them. So I’ve had this maternal instinct where I’ll fight to the death for the people I love. I’m just a very loyal person like that, but once I had my daughter, it quadrupled that feeling.”

“Bricks Make Houses” and “Mama Ain’t Jesus” might be the beginning of Johnson’s solo project journey, but it’s not the whole story. The singer-songwriter has another new song coming out at the end of this month, as well as a solo project in the works.

“I’m super focused on finishing this record. I live in Utah, and I’m making my record here and not in Nashville, and that’s been this whole beautiful, amazing experience. I’m fully committed to this record, and I’m also co-producing it.”

Stay tuned!

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