Gazelle 14 Spring 49-64_Gazelle Magazine 4/17/14 8:47 PM Page 50
STAR POWER:
Angie Johnson Reigns Supreme in Country Music
By Cillah Hall
he last tweleve months have been a wild ride for
St. Louis native Angie Johnson, and she’s taking
it all in stride. Angie got her big break when a
YouTube video of her singing Adele’s “Rolling in the
Deep” at a military base in Afghanistan went viral
and caught the attention of Carson Daly. With his
encouragement, Angie tried out for NBC’s “The
Voice,” where she became a contestant for Cee Lo
Green. Even though she didn’t get the top prize,
Angie landed a deal with Sony Music Nashville.
She released her debut EP last May, opened for her idol Martina McBride
in July, then toured with platinum-selling country star Scotty McCreery.
Last October, she was invited to perform at Busch Stadium during the
World Series, a night she called “an absolute dream come true.” Through
it all, the former intelligence analyst and Air Force Band vocalist has held
on firmly to her St. Louis roots.
T
CILLAH: What was your childhood like growing up in the military?
ANGIE: My father retired from the military as a Chief Master Sergeant, just
before I was born. So I never had to deal with moving around a lot. But I
was still brought up by the standards of a man who had served for twenty
seven years. In our house we didn’t have rules, we had regulations. I was
on a schedule for everything. I got all of my medical care, and we did our
grocery shopping at Scott Air Force Base in the Commissary. I got a little
rebellious in my teen years, but overall my dad taught me values that he
learned from the military that I was fortunate to learn at a young age.
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CILLAH: How did you get started in music?
ANGIE: My dad was always playing old gospel and bluegrass records in
the house. I’ve stolen most of those records and listen to them at my house
now. We used to watch “The Grand Ole Opry”, “Hee Haw” and “The Statler
Brothers Show” on TNN, and I remember saying to myself that I was going
to live in Nashville someday. I started singing for my parents’ dinner parties
when I was really small. My
earliest memory of “performing” was in our basement with
a bunch of family friends
gathered around. I sang and
danced to “Beat It” by Michael
Jackson. I don’t even know
how I knew that song.
CILLAH: Who was your
favorite music icon
growing up?
ANGIE: Definitely Patsy Cline
or Elvis Presley. I wore out
their cassette tapes on a boom
box in my room until I could
sing every lick of every song.
They both just had that special something in their voices
that was undeniably original.
SAVVY
SOPHISTICATED
SASSY