If coffee tables count then country-rock artist KC Johns has been rocking the stage since the age of three. As someone who grew up listening to the music of Led Zeppelin, their music has been a staple on the stages where KC has performed for as long as she can remember. Back when she sang on cruise ships, ‘Black Dog’ was always her favorite cover to perform live; her love for it has only grown with time. Releasing her version on January 22, 2021 with a music video following just a week later on January 29, KC Johns’s country-rock version of ‘Black Dog’ reminds us that rock is probably the most mainstream form of music still out there, all the way from Elvis to the Beatles, to Zep and then onto Aerosmith, from U2 to Nirvana, to this generation!
Based in Nashville, KC is in the process of completing her debut album, working with Grammy nominated songwriter and producer Billy Smiley (WhiteHeart, Johnny Cash, and Petra) to develop the sound she had been waiting for. The Rockpit managed to tear KC away from the studio just long enough to discuss what ‘Black Dog’ & Led Zeppelin means to her, what Nashville is really like for an artist and just how much of a rocker she really is at heart.
Sean: Hi KC, how are you doing?
KC: I’m good thank you.
Sean: Thank you for chatting to us here at The Rockpit. So, how’s things?
KC: Things are good. Things are so so good. I’m checking my emails each day and things are happening. ‘Black Dog’ is rising on Spotify right now which is just so overwhelming.
Sean: I’ve got to say it’s a wonderful rendition that you have done. It’s fantastic.
KC: Thank you so much.
Sean: You must be so pleased with how it turned out because it’s such a huge song to cover, especially with the pressure of the original.
KC: Yeah, for sure. It kind of happened by accident. Me and my producer Billy Smiley were in the studio and he suggested I needed to add a rock cover to the album. I was didn’t know what I was going to do. So, he asked me to tell him some of my favorite songs… and one of my favorite songs I liked to perform when I was working on the cruise ships was ‘Black Dog’ by Led Zeppelin, so he got me into the vocal booth to see what it sounded like and we just started doing stuff with the piano & guitar and put this whole thing together and it came out absolutely amazing.
Sean: It certainly deserves to be heard. It sounds incredible.
KC: Oh, thank you so much.
Sean: You are regarded more as a country singer, but I had a listen to some of your previous singles on Spotify and they are really cool. I really enjoyed them.
KC: Thank you. I love country and I love rock n’ roll so I try to combine the two. You’ve got to do both.
Sean: Hearing your previous work and now this version of ‘Black Dog’ has got me looking forward to hearing what the album will be like.
KC: [laughs] Me too! We are still working on it so it’s coming along. It comes out April 23rd.
Sean: I shall be keeping an ear out for that then. So, you are based in Nashville so how is life in Nashville?
KC: Nashville is gorgeous. It’s a little cold today at 34 degrees (F) so not really looking forward to that [laughs]…
Sean: Ah, we’ve got 34 degrees too today here in Perth but 34 degrees centigrade [laughs]
KC: I would love to be in Australia right now.
Sean: It’s an incredible country as long as you don’t get eaten by sharks or crocodiles when swimming, avoid getting bitten by the poisonous snakes and spiders or get burnt by the unforgiving sun then your fine [laughs]
KC: Thank you so much for selling me Australia [laughs]. You’re from the UK originally, right?
Sean: Yes, from the south east of the country in Kent. I came out to Australia when I was a kid and just fell in love with the place…. And the music here is just wonderful! Some fantastic Aussie rock bands here with the likes of AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, The Angels, it’s just so good.
KC: Oh wow. I’m so so jealous right now.
Sean: Well, you guys need to get over here and visit us.
KC: We would love to, as long as I can bring my guitar [laughs].
Sean: It goes without saying [laughs]. Back to ‘Black Dog’ and with a band like Led Zeppelin influencing so many different genres and age groups over the years, where did your love of the band come from and when was your earliest recollection of hearing their music?
KC: Growing up I actually didn’t really listen to much rock n’ roll. I grew up listening to prime country and old country and wasn’t even introduced to rock n’ roll. When I got a little older, I graduated from college and went off to the cruise ships they gave me a repertoire of songs and it was Aretha Franklin, it was Lynyrd Skynyrd, it was Led Zeppelin, just this huge variety of music that even I had not been introduced to yet. I just remember falling in love with all of these different types of music. Led Zeppelin was my favorite to perform live from that song repertoire so then I started reading all their books… I’ve just finished reading one by Mick Wall and it was incredible. I’m a huge book nerd.
Sean: I’ve not read that one yet. I’ll put it on my list.
KC: It’s amazing.
Sean: There have been bands over the year that have tried to replicate that sound and have never quite got there.
KC: I know. Everyone told me not to do this Zeppelin cover because I could be open to a lot of backlash, but my heart & soul has been put into this song and I really wanted to do it. So, I did it and you know what? I don’t even care if someone doesn’t like it because I love it and that’s all that matters [laughs].
Sean: We get so many submissions each & every day and for some reason your email stood out and I’m so glad it did because from the moment I hit ‘play’ I was blown away by your vocal.
KC: Thank you so much. Nothing can beat Robert Plant though.
Sean: So, your now based in Nashville as we just mentioned but that’s only been your home in recent years I believe.
KC: Yes, so I’m originally from Memphis, Tennessee and when I was about eighteen, I moved to Nashville and I was so overwhelmed. I didn’t know who I was as an artist or a person. I kind of felt too young to be here so I left after being here about a year. I realized I needed to go out and get some experience so I could discover the kind of music I wanted to write & who I wanted to be as an artist, so I left back then and moved back about four years ago.
Sean: It’s a place I’ve always wanted to visit. It just seems to be this magical Mecca for song writers & musicians.
KC: It really is. I mean, if you go down Broadway in Nashville, we have over one hundred and fifteen stages down there and there is a band on every stage and that’s just Broadway! There’s live music everywhere, there are songwriter events everywhere… there are so many of us out there doing what I’m doing. It’s hard to get noticed but I feel as long as your being yourself and having a good time doing it then people will recognize that.
Sean: For those who haven’t been there, one of the venues that received notoriety was the Bluebird Café, which became prominent in the TV series ‘Nashville’.
KC: I have not been back to the Bluebird since… well, you obviously know the TV series. I was an extra in one of the shows and we did a little thing there. That was the last time I was there though which would have been about two years ago.
Sean: That’s pretty cool. I’ll have to look out for you [laughs]
KC: I’m standing at the back so look hard [laughs]
Sean: I got to interview one of the main songwriters for an Australian band called INXS (Andrew Farris), who I’m sure you’ve heard of. He played the Bluebird and said it was one of the most terrifying experiences of his life because there is nowhere to hide.
KC: Oh, I can totally relate to that. When there is only me & my guitar and only ten people in the bar, I am more nervous than if I’m singing to a stadium filled with thirty thousand people. He’s so right – nowhere to hide.
Sean: I’d love to book a table and spend an evening at the Bluebird.
KC: You must come visit us here in Nashville. You know what, you have a place to stay with us anytime you want.
Sean: That’s so very kind of you. I may just take you up on that offer. Let’s talk about the album that you mentioned is due out in April. How exciting as an artist is it to start putting these final pieces of the jigsaw together to create an album? It must give you a buzz?
KC: That is a great way to put it. It’s a great word to describe it. When I came back to Nashville four years ago and met my producer Billy Smiley, who has worked with the likes of Johnny Cash, Clay Aiken and played in a band called Whiteheart, so he has done a lot. I met up with him and we have been writing together for the past three years but never really did anything with the catalogue of songs that we had… and then COVID hit. No one was touring or doing anything so it’s kind of forced me to turn to other avenues, so I went straight to the studio and we started creating magic together. I never knew how much fun it would be working with Billy. He has such a good ear and knew exactly what I wanted to do. He knew I loved country and knew I loved rock n’ roll so he suggested we combine them, make a country/rock album and just blow it out there and have lots of fun. So, yeah, it’s been such a buzz. That’s a great way to describe it.
Sean: Have you finalized how many tracks we can expect to hear?
KC: We’ve gone back and forth. We haven’t really decided yet. There will definitely be eleven songs, but we’ve been looking at a twelfth too maybe, so we’ll see.
Sean: I’ll be on your shop buying a copy.
KC: Yay, we’ll be doing vinyl first. I’ve got all the Led Zeppelin albums on vinyl and also records here at home that were my parents and grandparents. Some have them have never even been opened so I just don’t want to open them because they are too delicate.
Sean: I’m so glad vinyl has come back.
KC: Me too. It’s going to be vinyl first and then possibly cassettes [laughs]
Sean: Now that would be pretty cool. You mentioned your parents & grandparents in reference to music, so was it a musical household you grew up in?
KC: My grandaddy he was always playing guitar. He loved music, he introduced me older country – he loved older country so anything from Johnny Cash to Merle Haggard and my mom used to sing in a band when she was younger, and I remember watching videos of her when I was younger, and she always loved to sing. So, they were probably the only influences as music goes because nobody else in my family is musical.
Sean: You’re flying the flag [laughs]
KC: Yeah, I’m going with it [laughs]
Sean: It’s good to hear that during this global pandemic you have remained creative. I’m sure many artists have found it difficult either with being lockdown or struggling to write. I think some of us reviewers & interviewers are slightly worried we will receive a wave of Covid themed albums in the near future [laughs]
KC: Oh yeah, you are so correct [laughs] but like I said for the past three years we have been creating this catalogue, so we have plenty to select from for the album and we are still writing even now. We are visiting the studio every single week, so we are still writing new songs. Personally, I think it’s smart to keep things positive because people need to hear that right now.
Sean: Just to throw you off guard, I like to ask a few general questions. The first is my restaurant question so if you could invite three people to dinner from the music world, dead or alive, who would you choose?
KC: It would be Slash. It would probably be Nikki Sixx and… lets keep it country… Johnny Cash would be amazing.
Sean: Great choice of guests but I do need to ask why Slash & Nikki Sixx?
KC: Like I said earlier I’m a huge book nerd. I love to read. Neil Strauss is my favorite author, and he wrote ‘The Dirt’ and I remember reading about Slash & Nikki’s friendship and what they got up to so then I needed to read ‘The Heroin Diaries’ so I did and then I read Slash’s book and I just kind of fell in love with who they are as people as well as how they got where they were. I love rock autobiographies and just love the stories of how they became who they are.
Sean: What was the last album you listened to?
KC: The last album I listened to was probably… do you know who Buck McCoy is?
Sean: No, and that is why I love this question. I get educated with so many new artists.
KC: Well, he is an artist from down here in Nashville and is such a great artist. He’s amazing. So last night I said to my boyfriend that he should listen to the new Buck McCoy album on Spotify. He was actually here for the Nashville Christmas bombing when it happened, and he lived on Second Avenue when it happened, so he was the first one to get up and start filming everything. He’s a good friend of mine and a great artist and a radio personality here in Nashville too. You should check him out.
Sean: I will. More new music to discover.
KC: Yeah, for sure. I mean he’s not like a big name. I mean he’s a big name to me. I get star struck every time I’m around him [laughs]
Sean: Well, I’ll check him out most definitely. If you could be credited with writing any song ever written, what song would you choose?
KC: ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ by Guns N’ Roses. If only my name was on that.
Sean: That riff…
KC: Oh my gosh, yes! I was talking to someone just last night and was saying I would have just loved to have been in that room when that song was being written. That would have been incredible.
Sean: It would have been. KC, I can’t begin to thank you enough for your time to talk about your music, especially your single ‘Black Dog’ and the forthcoming album and from all of us at The Rockpit we wish you well and hope to catch up to see how you’re going at a later date – maybe once the album is released.
KC: That would be amazing. Thank you so much for getting up at such an ungodly hour to talk to me, Sean.
Sean: It’s been a real pleasure. Hopefully, we get to see you over here in Australia in the future – don’t forget your guitar [laughs]
KC: Of course [laughs]. Thank you so much.
