Sarah Johns had such a passion for music growing up that she snuck around with Patsy Cline cassette tapes that her parents forbade her to listen to. It wasn't just the music of Cline, though, that was considered off-limits in the Johns household, but any musical material outside of that of her church choir. But it was from within the church that Johns would find encouragement to pursue her songwriting that had been influenced by the likes of Cline and other secular artists. On the recommendation of her church soundman, Johns began to perform outside of the church choir and recorded a demo.

But at first, it seemed as if a career in music simply was not in the cards for Johns as she found no success in shopping around her demo. She went on to attend the University of Kentucky, during which time she performed at a local restaurant. It was by chance, or perhaps fate, that the manager of country music sensation Toby Keith happened to walk into that restaurant and witness the musical talents of Johns. He encouraged Johns to take a leap of faith of sorts and quit school to move to Nashville, TN, the country music hub of the world.

Within a month, Johns was in Nashville, but things didn't happen for her right away and she spent her first year cleaning tour buses of the musicians she so envied. Finally, she was invited to perform on tour with Keith as a guest. The exposure caught the eye of Sony and landed a deal with BNA. Her debut, Big Love in a Small Town, appeared in 2007 and impressed. The country music featured on the record was contemporary on the surface, but deep down incorporated characteristics of the music of classic country singers like Loretta Lynn. Johns co-wrote each of the 11 songs that appear on the album.