“Reach You” is reaching the airways across Canada and touching the hearts of so many, Let Carolyn Dawn Johnson know how the song has touched you or a love one in the comments below…

The race for the 2011 Canadian Country Music Awards is officially on! Canada’s finest country talents will vie head-to-head for the coveted statuettes this September in Hamilton, Ontario, as The Canadian Country Music Association® (CCMA®) announced today the nominees for the 2011 Canadian Country Music Awards. The 2011 Canadian Country Music Awards will be broadcast live on CBC Television from Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, ON, on September 12, 2011 at 8:00 pm (8:30pm NT), with an encore broadcast on CMT.

“Each of today’s nominees has contributed greatly to the success of the Canadian recording industry and helped to raise the profile of Canadian music to even greater heights,” said Don Green, Executive Director, CCMA. “The incredible talent of these artists, emerging to established, make them a force to be reckoned with on the world stage. This year’s nominees truly demonstrate the influence and creativity of Canadian country music.”

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

A Place Called Love – Johnny Reid
Better Be Home Soon – George Canyon
Love Rules – Carolyn Dawn Johnson
Sunday Afternoon – Aaron Lines
Trail In Life – Dean Brody

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Victoria Banks
Terri Clark
Carolyn Dawn Johnson
Tara Oram
Tenille

RECORD PRODUCER(S) OF THE YEAR
Jason Blaine (Sweet Sundown – Jason Blaine)
George Canyon/Richard Marx (Better Be Home Soon – George Canyon)
Hey Romeo/Byron Hill (That’s What I Am – Hey Romeo)
Carolyn Dawn Johnson/Frank Rogers (Love Rules – Carolyn Dawn Johnson)
Bart McKay (The Man I Am Inside – Chad Klinger)

Carolyn Dawn Johnson’s new album, Love Rules, begins with a churning, country-rock beat, then slides quickly into a reintroduction of sorts.

“You might not remember me, but we’ve met before, kind of briefly,” she sings. “Back then, I had longer hair, and came from out of nowhere.”

Johnson’s initial confab time with country fans and radio listeners was shorter than she had intended. After years away, though, she’s back and looking for a longer, more satisfying visit.

Born in Grande Prairie, Alberta (There’s the “out of nowhere,” part, though she loves Canada.), she came on the major label scene in 2001, with Top 10 country hits “Complicated” and “I Don’t Want You to Go,” and she opened tour dates for Reba McEntire, Martina McBride and others. Read the rest of this entry »

But after heading down to the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto for the 15th annual celebration of the flower and garden festival “Canada Blooms,” I’m glad I decided to go and take a look.

There are two main JUNO Award-related displays at the event: One is a presentation of how each of the centerpiece arrangements would have looked at various JUNO Award celebrations over the years, while the other was the collaborations by musicians and garden designers for creating “JUNO Rocks” gardens.
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Toronto, ON – Award-winning Canadian singer/songwriter and producer Carolyn Dawn Johnson has been nominated for Country Album of the Year at the 2011 JUNO Awards.  The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) made the announcements today at a press conference held at The Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.

Winners will be declared at the JUNO Gala Dinner and Awards on March 26 and the 2011 JUNO AWARDS will be broadcast live in Toronto from the Air Canada Centre on March 27. 

A delighted Johnson states, “I am ecstatic that my album Love Rules is being recognized because I love, love, love this music.  I am thankful that CARAS & the community of my peers chose to nominate it because it was truly the hardest project I’ve ever worked on, but just might be the one I’m most proud of.  Thank-you sooooo much.”  Read the rest of this entry »

Take a look at a few pictures from the last night of Carolyn’s 2010 Fall Canadian Tour.
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by Lauren Baron – Brant News

Country singer-songwriter Carolyn Dawn Johnson was nervous stepping back on stage for the first time in four years.

“I thought: ‘I haven’t been out here in a while, how is this going to feel?’” Johnson said. “I was extra nervous, but once I got out there it felt like an old sweater.”

Johnson took the four-year hiatus so she and her husband could settle down and start a family. Now with two kids, Abigail, 2, and Bennett, 8 months, Johnson is back on tour to support her new album, Love Rules, released in August.  Read the rest of this entry »

By Anna Borowiecki | St. Albert Gazette

Yowsers, can that girl belt it out.

Even before Carolyn Dawn Johnson had bounded onto the Arden stage this past Friday night, the sold-out house was cheering her on.

She wasn’t just another singer on a road stop flogging a new album. The Nashville-based Westlock transplant was family.

Johnson had returned home to the “old stomping grounds,” and an applause-heavy red carpet was laid out for Johnson and her four sidemen — Ricky Free (drums), Cory Ishee (guitar), Nolan Werner (bass) and Derek Wells (mandolin).

Although the country singer had temporarily hung up her spurs for four years, she still knew how to work the country crowd, delivering a lyrical catalogue that focused on love, family and domesticity. Read the rest of this entry »