Emancipated Alexz Johnson has no major ambitions<\/strong>Considering the world she comes from, one has to give Alexz Johnson props for going it alone. The New Westminster\u2013born actor is truly doing it DIY as a recording artist, as she\u2019s more than thrilled to point out from a Pennsylvania tour stop.<\/p>\n
Johnson doesn\u2019t completely sugarcoat things. There are moments when having to handle every aspect of her road swing gets tiring, especially considering that she\u2019s responsible not only for herself but for her band. Still, the benefits, as far as she is concerned, outweigh the moments when she wonders what in the hell she\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest with you, and maybe this is a female thing, it\u2019s hard to be on top of everything,\u201d the 25-year-old admits. \u201cYou start to feel a little bit worn-out. You don\u2019t have time to take care of yourself. I\u2019m dealing with six guys every day and performing every night. That\u2019s kind of hard, and it\u2019s leaving me feeling a bit frazzled. But to be meeting the fans, and playing shows, it\u2019s really worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her words ring sincere if you know anything about her back story, which didn\u2019t start with the release of Skipping Stone, the EP that she\u2019s now touring for. Johnson\u2019s path to being an independent recording artist has been a long and winding one. Although she\u2019s been singing since she was a kid, performing the national anthem at Vancouver Canucks games during her childhood, she first came to prominence as an actress. Those who came of age during the glory years of Hannah Montana will know her for playing Jude Harrison, a singer faced with negotiating the music industry, in the television show Instant Star.<\/p>\n
In some way, that role mirrored what would happen in her real life. Somewhere along the line, the suits at the major labels realized that Johnson really could sing, which landed her recording contracts at both Sony and Capitol. Lending credence to the widely held theory that the majors couldn\u2019t organize a punch-up at a boxing match these days, both those deals would leave Johnson in limbo, the singer eventually finding herself dropped without ever having released a record.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an artist, there\u2019s nothing that appeals to me about being on a major right now,\u201d she says. \u201cI can\u2019t tell you one thing. I ended up being away for a long time, in hiding in Toronto, playing shows at the Drake, trying to get my band on tour.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gradually, Johnson began to realize that there\u2019s a new business model for those struggling to make a career in the music business. First, she headed to Nashville to work on Skipping Stone, a record that showcases an affection for \u201960s pop (\u201cGive Me Fire\u201d), jazz-flecked folk (\u201cPleased to Meet You\u201d), and stripped-down country (\u201cThief\u201d).<\/p>\n
Then she did what indie artists across the country are doing and launched a Kickstarter campaign, exceeding her goal of $30,000 in a day. Now, $67,000 later, she\u2019s on the road, feeling emancipated. Well, except for the business of having to be responsible for everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only reason that I wasn\u2019t on tour a couple of years ago was because of my major-label situation,\u201d Johnson says. \u201cIt was awful. It took me eight months to get out of a deal, and those were precious years, my early 20s. Now, for the first time in a long time, I\u2019m surviving off my music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alexz Johnson<\/a> plays the Media Club on Tuesday (August 14).\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I’m not sure about the article title, but it’s an interesting read nonetheless. Source Emancipated Alexz Johnson has no major ambitions By Mike Usinger, August 9, 2012 Considering the world she comes from, one has to give Alexz Johnson props for going it alone. The New Westminster\u2013born actor is truly doing it DIY as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13],"tags":[72,551,584,685],"class_list":["post-4280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-article","tag-skipping-stone-tour","tag-straight-com","tag-vancouver"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t