James Johnston ProfileFor James Johnston, some of the best stories aren’t necessarily the ones that happen on the biggest stages.
Sometimes, they’re nights spent at your local pub, the friends you haven’t seen in years, or the moments that might not seem particularly important until you look back on them.
This idea sits at the heart of Johnston’s latest single, Takes Me Back. Released with Country Song, it’s a nostalgic look at the people, places and memories that shape us.
The song arrived as Johnston continues to build a career that has taken him from small-town pubs across Australia to sold-out shows overseas, all while keeping his family close and his feet firmly on the ground.
Takes Me Back is rooted in Johnston’s own memories of growing up and spending nights at Wingham’s Top Pub. At 18, those nights could end with him sobering up on a log in the park across the road, but the memories he made doing so have stuck with him.
“It’s not about the big, grand moments,” Johnston says, “it’s about those little moments… getting drunk at your local pub and the stories that you tell.”
One of those stories came back to life recently when Johnston had an unexpected reunion with his childhood best mate, Jack Bailey. Bailey, who has been referenced in several of Johnson’s songs over the years, was working as part of the sound crew at a hometown show when the pair crossed paths moments before Johnston took to the stage.
“It was just this moment of joy because I hadn’t seen him for such a long time," he remembers. "We just had a big hug and it was this really, really cool feeling.”
The pair went for drinks after the show, spending hours talking about the stupid things they got up to as teenagers. It’s exactly the kind of ordinary moment Johnston has always found worth writing about, and it’s the core of what gives Takes Me Back its sense of honesty.
This willingness to follow an instinct also played a major role in Country Song, which took a very different path from its original form. Written during a Nashville session with Michael Ray, the song was initially a more traditional country track. Johnston had always wanted to experiment with bagpipes, and with a trip to Scotland coming up, the timing felt right.
“I recorded the song and it never had bagpipes in it originally," Johnston explains. "I was going to Scotland, I always wanted to have bagpipes in a song, so we were like, ‘let’s just try it.’”
The idea was much more than just adding an unusual instrument for the sake of it. Johnston’s Scottish heritage, particularly through his grandfather, made the decision feel personal.
“If you ask him, he’s Scottish,” Johnston shares, “He was very proud. I think Scottish people are very much like that, they’re very proud to be from Scotland.”
The bagpipes ended up becoming a defining part of the song, particularly when Johnston performed it in Scotland. Live bagpipes opened the show with the country’s New Years anthem Auld Lang Syne, before leading into the track which had only been released a few days earlier. The response was something Johnston couldn’t have planned.
“The crowd was singing it loud and they really took ownership over it, so it was really, really cool.” He recalls.
Country Song almost didn’t make it out when it did. Johnston had been considering holding onto the track, but as his Scottish shows approached, the more he couldn’t shake the feeling that it needed to be released.
“I had this dream of playing it in Scotland and people singing it," he recalls. "I just woke up, it was like five in the morning. I called my manager and said, ‘We’re putting the song out. I don’t care. You’ve got to move heaven and earth, it’s just happening.’”
That decision says a lot about where Johnston is at creatively. After years of releasing music and watching songs succeed or fall short in expectations, he’s becoming more comfortable trusting his gut and calling the shots, rather than trying to predict what might become a hit.
“There’s this beauty in the unknown,” he says. “Some things will just connect and some things won’t. I feel like I’m seeing a lot of artists at the moment put a lot of music out. And I think there’s something to be said for that. Just do it unapologetically.”
This attitude could open the door to plenty more experimentation. Johnston points to the influence of artists like Paul Simon and his approach to instrumentation on Graceland, as well as his own experiences recording music influenced by his time in South Africa.
It’s an approach that makes sense for an artist whose music is now travelling well beyond Australia. Johnston’s debut UK shows sold out almost immediately, something that brought plenty of nerves along with the excitement.
“The scariest days are putting tickets on sale for a show," he points out. "It truly is, because you just hope people will show up."
But instead he found an audience waiting for him, that had already built a connection with his music. Before some shows, line dancing instructors were teaching routines to fans outside the venue, with hundreds of people dancing in the street before doors even opened.
“There’s these line dancing communities all around the world, like in places that you would never imagine," he laughs. "I got sent a video of a couple thousand people in Italy the other day, line dancing. You just never would have imagined."
While this international growth is exciting, there’s no place like home. Playing festivals like the Gympie Music Muster carries a totally different kind of energy, one that feels familiar and welcoming, while overseas shows still have that fresh, first-day excitement.
Where Johnston is today is a far cry from the younger version who first found himself in the spotlight on Australian Idol at 17 years old. National television exposure could easily have gone to his head, but the reality check came quickly.
“I went from being a small town kid, to suddenly I’m on national TV," he recalls. "Probably got a bit cocky, thought I was kind of cool, and six months later I was playing in a bar to zero people. That humbling experience was a really good life lesson.”
Johnston went on to spend years living in a van, playing thousands of covers and building his career the hard way. When success eventually came, he understood that it could never be taken for granted.
“I’m very lucky to be able to make my living through music… it’s not guaranteed forever.”
This sense of gratitude is flowing through Takes Me Back and Country Song in different ways. One looks back on the people and places that made Johnston who he is, while the other shows an artist willing to take a chance and see where the music leads.
For Johnston, perhaps this is the point of it all. The career might be getting bigger, but the stories worth telling are still often the small ones.
James Johnston’s Takes me Back and Country Song are out now, while Johnston plays the Bend Classic and Strummingbird festivals in October.
