Dallas singer / songwriter Sarah Johnson recently performed in Flathead Valley to perform at a number of venues including the Brash Rodeo at the Blue Moon Arena in Columbia Falls.
Johnson knows the rodeo well, having spent at least 25 summers at her grandparents house on Whitefish Lake.
“My family used to go to the Brash Rodeo every Thursday when I was a kid,” said Johnson. “I have so many memories of the valley that is very dear to my heart. Most of all I remember playing and watching sunsets on the lake, picking raspberries, avalanches, bathing my grandmother Blue’s horse and going to Mrs. Spoonover’s on Central Avenue (now Stumptown Art Studio) for blueberry ice cream. “
Johnson, 33, sang her original song from her music video, Red Bandanna, at her Brash Rodeo and town appearances this summer. Released in August 2020, Johnson wrote the catchy song in August 2018 after visiting her family here in Flathead Valley.
“I went to the rodeo and had this scenario in my head and it just kept evolving,” said Johnson of her inspiration for the song.
“Red Bandanna” tells a sweet, romantic story of a Texan woman who meets a cowboy at a rodeo and falls in love with him. He gives her his bandana to remember him as he sets off to tour the rodeo course.
The video was actually shot at the Blue Moon Arena and Flathead Valley. It starts with a shot of the old Blue Moon reader board sign that is still on the rodeo grounds. The man who plays the bull rider Johnson meets in the video is her real friend. Local photographer and videographer Andrew Chad, a high school friend of Johnson’s, made the video. They met in Texas, but his family vacationed here too, buying a house in Whitefish when he was growing up. The Flathead is now his base camp as he travels for his career as an outdoor adventure photographer.
Johnson’s grandfather, Jerry Johansen, founded one of the first music festivals in the area in 1986. The Flathead Valley Festival of the Arts was an annual classical music event that attracted world-class musicians using parks, theaters, churches, and private homes as venues. He and her grandmother started visiting the valley in 1969, fell in love with it, and made it their all-day home a few years later. Johnson recalls her family vacation at Kamp Karefree on Whitefish Lake.
Johnson says she wrote her first song when she was 2 years old and has been a singer / songwriter ever since.
“It’s always been a love of mine,” she said. “I made the decision to take the plunge into becoming a professional musician two years ago after realizing that I was writing songs that I’m proud of and that resonated with people.”
She was encouraged to go to Nashville by other musicians and songwriters and did so for six weeks in the fall of 2019.
“But I realized that I could be a stronger voice in Dallas and shine a light on the art scene there,” she said. “I found a producer I love (Dallas music veteran Beau Bedford) and I recorded with him this winter.
“Dallas is home to some really incredible talent. Everyone is very supportive of him and it feels family-like, Johnson said. “There are great opportunities for musicians there, and it’s on the map.”
“Red Bandanna” now has over 73,000 streams on Spotify. Johnson’s six-track EP “Volcano” was released last September. Written over the course of five or six years, Johnson says she picked the best of the best of her songs to make her EP debut in the music world.
“It’s like reading my journal,” she said. “For me, ‘Vulkan’ is a symbol that I’m bursting into my dreams.”
She is currently working with Chad to produce music videos for the songs on the EP due out this fall.
Johnson’s love for storytelling and Americana roots music shines in her unforgettable song “Red Bandanna”.
“If someone loves Montana or has had a wonderful experience here, I hope the song can be a reminder.”
LEARN MORE
Johnson will perform at the Firebrand in Whitefish this Saturday from 7pm to 10pm
Her music video “Red Bandanna” is available on YouTube. Her EP “Volcano” can be purchased from Apple Music and streamed on Spotify and other major platforms.
More information about the artist can be found at www.sarahjohnsonofficial.com
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