James Johnston Signs To Warner Music Australia, Drops New Single 'Blame'

James Johnston has signed to a major label – Warner Music Australia, with support from Warner Nashville – and released his first new song since the move, BLAME.

A high-energy song packed with attitude, a rock angle, harmonica, and a stomping feel, BLAME is already a dive bar anthem, but with a twist: it’s about the first time Johnston saw his wife, Talia.

“I knew from the minute she walked in the room, I was done,” Johnston commented in a press release. “I was playing in the house band, and she walked up and requested a Keith Urban song. After seeing her spinning around on the hardwood, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.”

Telling Countrytown about when Talia heard the song for the first time, Johnston recalled, “Talia is always honest with me, so I'm always a little nervous to play her new music. But the day I wrote BLAME, I sent it to her while she was back in Australia. She called me immediately and loved it.”

BLAME was written in Nashville. On the day of a writing session, Johnston forgot to bring his guitar – all he had was his harmonica and, in the writing room, an old steel-string electric guitar.

Working with co-writers Joe Lasher and Dan Pellarin, Johnston said of how the song came together: “The combination of big modern production, harmonica, and the old steel-string guitar is what makes this song special. What you hear on the recording is 99% of what we captured that day.”

You can check out the video for BLAME below.

While it’s “early days” since signing with Warner, Johnston described the move as “incredibly exciting.”

“I've been an independent artist for a long time, so finding a label that I connected with and shared the same values for country music was crucial,” Johnston explained. “The Warner team coming out to some of my shows and experiencing the country community firsthand solidified my belief that they were the right fit.”

Dan Rosen, the President of Warner Music Australasia, said of signing Johnston: “I am very proud to welcome James Johnston to the Warner Music family and am incredibly excited to work together on the next phase of his career.

“James has already achieved so much through his creativity and work ethic, winning fans around Australia and around the world. He has a unique talent and is an authentic singer and songwriter and has the global country music world at his feet. We cannot wait to help him take his music to every corner of Australia and the globe.”

Johnston added, “I see my team, from my band to my manager, as part of my family. Regardless of the highs or lows, we are in it for the long run, and we support each other. So, I knew when it was time to partner with a label, I wanted to find a team that embodied the same values as the people I surround myself with now.

“After I got to sit down and have a beer with Dan Rosen, met with Ben [Kline] and Cris [Lacy] in Nashville, and got to shake hands with the wider Warner team, I knew I had found my people! I’m so excited to work with them in this next chapter of my career and to take my music to the world!”