The Grascals' Jamie Johnson Talks New Music And Answers 11 Whacky Questions

posted in: Artist Features • Country • Music News

The Grascals just can’t stop touching fans’ hearts with their music.

No sooner was their cover of “The Last Train to Clarksville” heralded as an instant classic that they turned their much-lauded bluegrass talents to The Grascals + Friends ”Country Classics with a Bluegrass Spin. The thirteen tunes on the January release ” that features duets with a bevy of guests including Charlie Daniels, Tom T. Hall, Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley, Joe Nichols, Terri Clark and even actor Steven Seagal” are generally a merry jaunt through some much loved tunes including “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” and “Mr. Bojangles.”

The one notable exception is the emotionally charged “I Am Strong,” written by Grascals’ co-founder Jamie Johnson, his wife Susanne Mumpower-Johnson and fiddler Jenee Fleenor. The idea for the song came to Johnson on one visit to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. Although he’d visited many times in the past, a public display of children’s words after the preface “I Am” caught his eye. There in the middle of the board was one child’s words: “I Am Strong.”

That’s what prompted Johnson to co-write the song that the Grascals recorded two times. One version is with the Grascals and many of the guest artists on the record. The second version is with the Grascals and their long-time mentor Dolly Parton. Some proceeds from the song and album”available through Cracker Barrel”benefit the hospital.

“We want to get the message out as far as we can,” said Johnson speaking of the work done at St. Jude’s. “Everybody has been touched by cancer in some form or fashion. When we told [the guest artists] what we were doing to raise money for St. Jude’s, everyone was on board. It was amazing.”

Although country legend Charlie Daniels spends countless hours each year working for charity, he said the chance to work on the album and song were something he would not miss.

“It was a joy to do it,” said Charlie Daniels. “They are a very talented band…I have been involved with St. Jude’s for a long time”I call it the ‘Miracle on the Mississippi’”and I [want] the world to know more about what goes on there.”

So just who is the co-founder of the Grascals who writes such powerful songs? OurStage lured Johnson away from his busy schedule for a few minutes to ask him eleven off-the-wall but hopefully insightful questions that’ll tell us more about him. Here’s some of what he said:

OS: What’s the best piece of advice given to you that you’ve actually followed?

JJ: Easy. Dolly Parton’s: Give the fans every bit of your heart and they will give theirs back to you.

OS: What was the first concert you ever attended.

JJ: The first concert I ever saw was Garth Brooks (who opened for Ronnie Milsap). This was before I knew about country music except the old stuff. I looked at my roommate when Garth was jumping around and said ‘That guy is gonna amount to nothing.’ There goes my prediction! I ended up being great friends with Garth and what an entertainer he is! But when I was young, I thought [an entertainer was] supposed to sit there and be like a bump on a log. That was in college though. The first real concert I ever attended was a bluegrass festival with the Osborne Brothers.

OS: What is the one thing that you always take with you on the road?

JJ: Pictures of my family, my little boy Cole Train and my wife.

OS: What is your guilty pleasure?

JJ: Michael Jackson, believe it or not. I was a huge Michael Jackson fan growing up. I have [the video This Is It] and the new album [Michael]. Not a lot of people know this but I did the Moonwalk and won the talent show when I was in the sixth grade. I can still do it. I’ve done it for the band.

OS: What is one thing that stresses you out?

JJ: The business side of the music. Everyone in America is going through a lot financially right now. Music is a lot of very hard work. The thing is, people normally see you on stage and think ‘Wow, they are living the life.’ You are because you are very grateful to play music for a living. But at the same time you have a mouths at home to feed. Trying to survive, especially in our genre of music, is difficult. We’re not full-blown country. It’s not like every theater in every state invites us to perform. But we’ll change that!

OS: Do you have a favorite perk that comes from being a celebrity?

JJ: Playing on the Grand Ole Opry. That is a perk as not every other celebrity gets to do that. Only a select handful of people get to do that. Also, getting to know all the famous people. I’m friends with Dolly Parton, Hank Williams Jr., Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, [the actor] Steven Seagal”they are my friends. That’s a huge perk. I still say playing the Grand Ole Opry over anything, though. I got to meet little Jimmie Dickens. Porter Wagoner, I was on stage the last time he played the Opry.

OS: Who is the most famous person’s cell number you have?

JJ: I don’t have Dolly’s personal. I have her office number. Dolly doesn’t really talk on the phone; she faxes. She won’t email. Personal numbers, I have Steven Seagal’s. And Hank [Williams] Jr., I have his, but he only texts.

OS: What old TV show do you miss the most?

JJ: I don’t have to miss it! The Andy Griffith Show”they still play it on [the cable television station] TVLand.

OS: Is there anyone in country music that you know isn’t honest with their fans?

JJ: Yes, there is. It’s in the bluegrass world. But not many. Very, very few.

OS: What’s the strangest thing a fan ever said to you?

JJ: I get that all the time because of my Native American heritage. They think I’m Mexican or that I look like Wayne Newton. I always say ‘Wayne Newton. You’re kidding. He’s cool, I guess.’

OS: If you could spend a day with any other singer or songwriter who would it be and why?

JJ: Paul McCartney”I love him as a songwriter and I love The Beatles. He’s left handed and I think that’s cool. So am I. I like how he plays guitar.