Johnny Anderson: From Barrie to Nashville

Written by Abby Power

April 11th, 2023

Johnny Anderson is a 21 year old singer/songwriter from Barrie, Ontario. He has a passion for singing and writing songs and an even bigger passion to play country music professionally. Johnny began playing the guitar at 7 years old. “I’ve been singing and writing for as long as I can remember,” he stated. His biggest influences are Brad Paisley and the Zac Brown Band, as they “span all walks of life.”

As an emerging artist who has worked tirelessly for a country music career, Johnny has found that he is not boxed into one genre of music. He is most influenced by country music while combining elements of classic rock and modern pop. “I listened to a lot of John Denver while on road trips when I was younger. I have a rock dad and a country mom, so I get a good variety of genres through [my family].” His biggest rock influence is the Eagles, which can be heard through his newest single ‘Bad for You’.

Johnny has had the opportunity to be an opening act for well-known artists such as Alan Doyle and Blue Rodeo. He competed in the Magna Hoedown Showdown, a country music competition in Aurora, Ontario, as a finalist in 2016. Johnny returned in 2017 and won the competition. The Magna Hoedown Showdown was introduced to him by a concert promoter. As the winner of the competition in 2017, Johnny had the opportunity to travel to Nashville and spend a week in a recording studio with Beverly Mahood and Bruce Wallace. “It was incredible,” Johnny said, “within a matter of three days, two songs were written and recorded.” Together, Johnny Anderson, Beverly Mahood, and Bruce Wallace wrote a number of songs. Johnny had the opportunity to record the songs with a live band and has since taken a liking to performing with a live band. “I remember standing in front of the microphone. I was getting ready to sing and felt a little nervous. I thought ‘is this going to go well?’ We recorded the song, and before you know it, we were finished. I remember laughing and thinking, ‘oh man, we got it in one or two takes’.” Johnny’s newest single was originally pitched to him while he was in Nashville. ‘Bad for You’ was originally written by Beverly Mahood and Bruce Wallace five years prior. However, the song had needed to be rewritten and recomposed. The song was released on all major streaming platform on February 24th, 2023, and has since reached over 1,800 streams on Spotify.

Currently, Johnny is writing lots of new material and will begin to record his new songs soon. Beginning this year, he plans to release 4 songs per year. “Winter is writing season,” he stated. Johnny insisted that writing by oneself is one of the best things a writer can do for themselves. He believes that it allows the writer to be completely selfless, as there are no distractions. “You can use the time by yourself to write your own songs with no distractions. It’s like writing in your diary. Use the songs as your diary.” Johnny likes to begin his songs with the song titles. He has found that basic ideas can create imagery, and that one can tell a story based on a song title. “I like to write exactly how I’m feeling.” Although Johnny is a new country artist and is inspired by newer artists, such as Old Dominion, he takes a lot of influence from older country artists. He finds that his songwriting inspiration comes naturally. “The only part you have to work for is the song format. If you’re forcing it, it doesn’t come well. You have to fit the formula.”

Johnny has found the country music industry to be very welcoming and accepting. He has found little to no problems as an emerging artist. “Everyone just wants to help each other out. If you’re comfortable with putting yourself out there, this is the [industry] for you.”

Johnny Anderson’s next gig will be at the Newmarket Ribfest on May 26th. His music can be found on all major music streaming platforms or at johnnyanderson.ca.

All photos by Kyla Campbell.