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Meet Jarrett Johnson

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Jarrett Johnson.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Jarrett. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My story starts like so many in a smaller middle American town. I was raised in the church and that’s where my love for music was born. According to my mother, I was singing before I was able to really speak so it was almost predestined that I’d end up in Los Angeles pursuing the dream of making music for a living. My life has taken countless turns, but I’m grateful they led me here; from singing in the children’s choir and musical theater productions to performing on the Grammy stage and touring the world. To say this journey was “unexpected” would be an understatement.

Upon leaving college, me and six gentlemen that started an a cappella group while in school would tour professionally for over 12 years. As the work began to wain and the interests of the group evolved, I found myself being called to move to LA with my wife, Andréa. To paraphrase John Burroughs, we felt it was time to take a leap and believed a net would appear. I dreamed of becoming the next Babyface or Ne-Yo that would make a living as a songwriter and later parlay that into a career as an artist. But as the old adage goes “we make plans, and God laughs”. I’m overjoyed in that I’ve found a home in Los Angeles where I’m respected as a musician within various arenas, I have an incredible extended family that supports and encourages my wife and me, and I feel like what I’m able to do allows me to make an impact wherever my travels take me.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road to success as an artist is rarely smooth and my circumstances were no different. I’m grateful I have a wife that supported the notion of moving to Los Angeles, but she was adamant about me having a plan and executing it. Turns out my plan wasn’t as well thought out as it should have been and I made things far more difficult than they needed to be. We found an apartment that was priced far beyond our means didn’t have enough steady work to live comfortably after the first eight months and found ourselves struggling financially until we were finally able to downgrade to a more reasonable living situation. Once we were out of our initial location, we were able to start turning things around.

Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I am a singer/songwriter, vocal arranger and vocal contractor. As a full-time musician based in Los Angeles, my resumé includes corporate band singer, a cappella singer, backing vocalist to some of your favorite entertainers, and session vocalist on film/television. I suppose I’m known for my affinity in creating harmony. As a student of some of the great a cappella/vocal jazz groups growing up, I always found myself drawn to that sound and sharpened that skill by singing in various ensembles.

I am most proud that I’ve found a place within this incredible vocal community that supports its own. The love and encouragement I see amongst this community is the life’s blood to its continued thriving. One of my colleagues reminded me since none of us have agents, per se, we must act as agents for one another. There’s something so special in that I can be the reason someone could get their foot in the door and their career could take off the same way so many people have helped me along the way.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment of my career can’t be summed up into one single experience. There are a couple of standouts that come to mind though. The first involves working with Quincy Jones. I was blessed to co-write the lead single/title track to his album entitled “Soul Bossa Nostra”. On the video shoot, I was able to sit with him and chat for almost a half hour. In that time, he shared with me some incredible stories about his life in the industry and he was incredibly gracious in saying how much he enjoyed my take on his hit song, “Soul Bossa Nova”. He told me “the song is smokin'” in only the way “The Dude” could articulate.

The second moment came when I was invited to step in and join Take 6 for a Japanese/European tour in 2016. This group has played such a huge role in my life and it was a dream come true when I was asked to fill in for their baritone for multiple tours over the subsequent years. In that time, I’ve not only sang some of the most incredible music you may ever hear, but I can now consider them brothers and life long friends. It was truly a childhood dream realized.

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