By the time she graduated high school, Carolyn Dawn Johnson could play virtually every musical instrument there is out there. Johnson staring playing the piano at age five and then added the flute, saxophone and clarinet to her repertoire in high school before later completing her one-woman band skills with the guitar and mandolin. As for her singing, Johnson got enough practice at church and with her family before writing songs and daydreaming about stardom while in her teens. Johnson moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1995 to pursue a career in music and found work as a waitress and bartender while songwriting and performing on the side.Johnson continued to pen country songs until Patrick Joseph Music took note and brokered her a publishing contract. In 1999 Johnson joined and toured with country crooner Martina McBride's band just as her songwriting was starting to cause a stir in the Nashville country music scene. Despite enjoying and learning a lot from touring with veteran McBride, Johnson still harbored hopes of a solo career. Her dreams came true when she signed with Arista Records and began working on "Georgia," her first solo recording. "Georgia" landed Johnson a spot on the Billboard charts and was followed up by her 2001 release, Room with a View, which featured the successful single.Johnson's songwriting talent helped to make her a name in Nashville as well as her solo career a success. In 2000 Johnson earned the Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year Award from the Music Row Awards for penning the 1999 hit single "Single White Female" with Chely Wright. She followed up 2001's Room with a View with her sophomore album, 2004's Dress Rehearsal and 2006's Love & Negotiation. After years of writing songs for other country music stars, Carolyn Dawn Johnson successfully two-stepped out on her own.
