{"id":4803,"date":"2013-03-04T18:30:51","date_gmt":"2013-03-04T23:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/?p=4803"},"modified":"2013-03-04T18:30:51","modified_gmt":"2013-03-04T23:30:51","slug":"alexz-johnsons-2nd-u-s-tour-hits-charlotte-nc-charlotte-observer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/?p=4803","title":{"rendered":"Alexz Johnson\u2019s 2nd U.S. tour hits Charlotte, NC — Charlotte Observer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alexz plays Charlotte on Wednesday. Here is a cool article about her from The Charlotte Observer<\/a>. I expect much more of these type of articles to surface as she continues through her tour:<\/p>\n

\nSource<\/a><\/p>\n

Alexz Johnson\u2019s 2nd U.S. tour hits Charlotte, NC<\/strong>
\nBy Courtney Devores
\nCorrespondent<\/p>\n

Pop singer-songwriter\/actress Alexz Johnson launched a PledgeMusic campaign Thursday to fund her upcoming full-length album. In four days, she\u2019d reached half her goal. Pledgers receive \u201cgifts\u201d like the opportunity to write a song with her (for $8,000) or interview her at a show ($200).<\/p>\n

Johnson previously raised $30,000 in a single day on Kickstarter, eventually doubling that and using the funds to pay for her first U.S. tour. Her second \u2013 with fellow female indie-rocker Charlene Kaye \u2013 stops at Tremont Music Hall Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Raising loads of cash in mere days may be tough for unknown musicians, but Johnson has spent years building her fan base.<\/p>\n

The former Canadian TV star got her first big break in the Disney Channel series \u201cSo Weird\u201d (1999-2001). Then she landed \u201cInstant Star,\u201d which was broadcast in more than 120 countries (it aired on Nickelodeon\u2019s \u201cThe N\u201d \u2013 now TeenNick \u2013 in the United States) from 2004-2008; Johnson played a musician who becomes famous overnight after winning a music competition.<\/p>\n

She wrote much of the music that was used on the show. \u201cIt taught me very quickly how to write with and work with people,\u201d says Johnson. But she never toured.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to tour as Jude Harrison,\u201d she says of her \u201cInstant Star\u201d character.<\/p>\n

Four years after \u201cInstant Star\u201d was cancelled and deals with Capitol and Sony\/Epic (which opted not to release her full-length album), Johnson\u2019s life is very different.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy expectations have changed. When you\u2019re on a TV show and signing record deals, I\u2019m like, \u2018Why am I not at the Grammys?\u2019 I was waiting on people to press the button for me. When I see bands really make it now from the underground and build, build, build \u2013 it\u2019s so much richer than having people listen to you because you\u2019re on the radio,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Johnson moved to Brooklyn, which wasn\u2019t cheap \u2013 a Visa cost her $10,000 and a green card will cost another $12,000. There, she immersed herself in indie culture and met Kaye, who has navigated a similarly independent career, having gained fame through her association with duet partner and friend Darren Criss (\u201cGlee\u201d) and as guitarist for Team Starkid.<\/p>\n

For her Kickstarter campaign, Johnson released a five-track EP, \u201cSkipping Stone,\u201d that she recorded in Nashville for $300 (a different experience than her major-label days, when she wrote songs in London and recorded with 35 string players). It manages to recall both Rickie Lee Jones, \u201960s girl groups, and Gwen Stefani, which seems like a difficult mix to pull off. Yet it works.<\/p>\n

So what will her new album sound like?<\/p>\n

\u201cI want it to be epic and classic, old-school,\u201d says the 26-year-old former teen star with an old soul. \u201cI love Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen. Brian Eno. I want it to be big and sound like Independence Day. So much in music right now is about bling and success and money and fame and sex. All these things are inundating our culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve kind of forgotten \u2018The Streets of Philadelphia\u2019 and Melissa Etheridge. Adele tapped into that. I want to take it back to true songwriting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson, who still acts (\u201cHouse of Bodies\u201d with Terrance Howard and Queen Latifah is out this year), doesn\u2019t necessarily need to take the risqu\u00e9 route former Disney stars Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens do in the R-rated \u201cSpring Breakers\u201d to shake a squeaky clean image.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t get quite wrapped up in that. I never got into the Disney circle as much. (\u2018Instant Star\u2019) was a real blessing for me,\u201d she says, noting her international fanbase. \u201cI think with time, people kind of begin seeing you in a new light. In TV land, it\u2019s hard for people to look at you seriously as a musician. I think it helps that I played a musician on TV.\u201d<\/p>\n

She admits the self-managed, social-media-savvy world of an independent artist isn\u2019t necessarily an easier one.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s where my heart is.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alexz plays Charlotte on Wednesday. Here is a cool article about her from The Charlotte Observer. I expect much more of these type of articles to surface as she continues through her tour: Source Alexz Johnson\u2019s 2nd U.S. tour hits Charlotte, NC By Courtney Devores Correspondent Pop singer-songwriter\/actress Alexz Johnson launched a PledgeMusic campaign Thursday […]<\/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":[72,142,570],"class_list":["post-4803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-article","tag-charlotte-observer","tag-spring-tour"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t