Holding up the Mirror with Adam Johnson

Article by Melanie Macpherson, Photos by Tracy Creighton (Copperblue Photography)

Adam Johnson has become known for putting on a good show. He and his band take live energy to the next level with a performance that hits more like rock ’n’ roll while still creating a sound that keeps it country. He hits the perfect note for a prairie party with a middle-finger-raising attitude and a talent for capturing snapshots of gritty reality, all while coming across as thoughtful, and a little nostalgic. He’s the kind of guy you’d have a beer with after a long day of work and never run out of things to talk about. I recently had the opportunity to talk to Adam about his new album, his tour, and his thoughts on songwriting in a modern world.

On February 7, Johnson played Coors Event Centre, bringing all of that energy to a hometown audience. With a crowd-pleasing mix of new songs from his upcoming album, old favourites, and even a few covers, Johnson says this is the tightest set he’s put together.

“I grew up listening to rock. Blink-182 was really my first favourite band as a kid, and then everything from the Foo Fighters to Nickelback to the Arctic Monkeys and the Glorious Sons as I got older. I definitely have some very in-its-lane country music in my catalogue, but I do make a lot of country rock that I like to describe as country music for rock fans. I’ve been to so many concerts, and the one thing I always try to pull from rock shows is the energy. There’s just something about the hard-driving guitars and that explosive kind of performance.”

But Johnson also feels it’s important to have some contrast in his shows. “I like to have a little acoustic section in the middle of our show where we run a couple of slow songs. It’s just me on stage at first; then the band comes in halfway through. It’s fun to have that change-up and give that more emotional kind of performance.”

Johnson is a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen, and that influence is evident in an album that speaks to the hard-working people who make up much of country music’s listening base. With universal topics that listeners can nod along to, Johnson’s style feels like it’s maturing.

That maturity shows up most clearly in the themes he’s tackling this time around.  “This album was a little bit different. The first album didn’t necessarily have an overarching theme, but this time I sat down with a very specific goal in mind. The world is in a bit of a crazy place right now. I started writing these songs a couple years ago, but what’s happened since has made them even more relevant. I loved ‘Drinking With the Boys’ and the fun songs, but I wanted to take on things that are a little bit more serious. So I was looking at things like the housing crisis in Canada - affordability, groceries, everything is a little bit insane. We live in this almost terminally online world, and things like online dating are really not healthy for a lot of people, so I was looking at those kinds of subjects.  When something is wrong, it’s important to speak up.  If we all sit there in silence and let bad people do bad things, that’s just going to continue to happen. So it’s important to speak out about the evils of the world.”

When I asked whether he thought people would embrace the more serious subject matter, Johnson responded, “The one thing about music is you don’t want to exclude anyone, but at the same time… you can’t really make music for everybody. You have to focus on the people who are going to be the biggest fans of your music. Honestly, I think I’m one of the biggest fans of my music, so I write music I know I’ll love and I know somebody else is going to love it too.”

The track “This Ain’t Life” leans fully into that Springsteen-inspired grit and advocacy for the exploited and underappreciated working class. In it, Johnson tackles a range of current issues, including AI, violence, the rising cost of living, and the growing wealth gap between owners and workers.

“I wrote that song because it’s a bunch of things people should think really critically about and kind of step outside their bubble and say, ‘hey, maybe the way things are working aren’t quite right.’ That’s the Zeitgeist of where my mind’s at, and I touch on love and loneliness a lot through this album too. I just wanted to capture the experience of somebody in their mid-twenties in today’s North America. It’s not my job to tell people what to believe. It’s my job to hold up the mirror.”

In the new track “The Good Ol’ Boys,” Johnson writes about the increasing cost of living, working ourselves to death just to keep up, and the relief of a rowdy night of drinking and blowing off steam.

While discussing the inspiration for the song, we ended up on a tangent about the prevalence of drinking in and around music. Johnson said it makes sense to include it as part of the culture, and part of his own life, as a way to relax and socialize. But he also recognizes the dangers of glorifying drinking and the problems it can create in a world where people are already struggling.

“I’ve thought about writing on that topic and diving into the fact that it does get glorified in country culture, and that’s maybe not the best thing. It’s not something you can just wave a hand at and say, ‘it’s just what we all do.’ Being around the country music scene, there are a lot of artists who are up on stage singing drinking songs who are X amount of years sober. So obviously the artists are recognizing the detriment it’s had on them, and I think it’s important for everyone to be wary of how dangerous it can be.”

“And music is a different line of work - you’re constantly surrounded by alcohol. You’re in bars, and part of your payment is free drink tickets or people in the crowd buying you a shot, so I think it’s definitely a more high-risk industry. As a songwriter, you’re kind of a reflection of society, and I think you’re kidding yourself if you think, ‘I can write a bunch of drinking songs and not consider the negative side effects.’”

As he balances heavier themes with high-energy performances, the tour itself is an extension of that momentum. The nine-show run across Saskatchewan and Alberta supports the new singles and the upcoming album. With several stops (including Weyburn, Saskatoon, and Swift Current) already under his belt, Johnson is pumped for the rest of the tour. Next up are Calgary, Regina, Edmonton, Prince Albert, and Moose Jaw, with a stop at the legendary Saskatchewan Telemiracle mixed in as well.

When asked about the difference between playing close to home versus farther afield, Johnson responded, “Obviously our fan base is different in each city. Like in Saskatoon, we might have a more hardcore base of people that really know our stuff, especially our older stuff. Whereas going somewhere we haven’t played as often, those people aren’t necessarily attached to some of our earlier songs. We’re playing a lot of venues that I really love. It’s exciting because for some of them it’s the first opportunity I’ve gotten to play them, but for others I’m going back to them. I can’t wait for all those shows.”