Sarah Johns (born 1979) is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist. Signed to

BNA Records BNA Records, formerly known as BNA Entertainment, was a label group that shared ties with Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville from parent company Sony Music Nashville, which itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Nashville, T ...

in 2006, she released her debut album ''Big Love in a Small Town'', which accounted for two charting

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts, including the No. 39 "The One in the Middle."

Musical career

Sarah Johns was born in Pollard, Kentucky. She began singing regularly while attending the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

. In early 2006, Sarah Johns signed to Show Dog Nashville (now

Show Dog-Universal Music Show Dog Nashville is an American independent record label specializing in country music artists. It was founded in 2005 by singer Toby Keith. It was later merged with Universal South Records into Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009 until ...

), a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

owned by

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), known professionally as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He released his first four studio albums—1993's ''Toby Keith'', 1994's ''Boomtown'', 1996' ...

. Although she toured with Keith on his Big Throwdown 2 tour, she did not release anything on Show Dog, and left the label that April. A year later, Johns signed with

. She released her debut single "The One in the Middle" on April 30, 2007 and made Top 40 on the ''

charts with it. On June 2, 2007, Johns made her debut on the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

. Johns' debut album, ''Big Love in a Small Town'', was released on August 28, 2007 and peaked at No. 198 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Thom Jurek rated the album three stars out of five, comparing Johns' song choices and attitudes to those of

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...

and

Gretchen Wilson Gretchen Frances Wilson (born June 26, 1973) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She made her debut in March 2004 with the Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning single "Redneck Woman", a number-one hit on the ''Billboard (magazine) ...

and saying, "This record isn't all the way there, but it's well on the way and might blow up the charts anyway. ''Big Love in a Small Town'' is an auspicious debut by a young talent." Its second single, "He Hates Me", peaked at No. 47 on the country charts.

Discography

''Big Love in a Small Town'' (2007)

Track listing

#"When Do I Get to Be a Woman" (Sarah Johns,

Jason Sellers Jason Sellers (born March 4, 1971) is an American country music artist. After several years of touring the United States in his family's band, Sellers joined the road band of Ricky Skaggs. By 1997, he was signed to a recording contract with BNA Re ...

, Lynn Hutton) - 3:01 #"If You Could Hold Your Woman (Like You Hold Your Whiskey)" (Johns, Jim Collins, Tony Martin) - 3:32 #"A Lot to Let Go Of" (Johns, Sellers, Dale Dodson) - 3:11 #"Baby My Heart" (Johns, Sellers, Michael Dulaney) - 4:02 #"Big Love in a Small Town" (Johns, Martin,

Mark Nesler Mark Nesler (born January 5, 1961 in Beaumont, Texas) is an American country music artist. Signed to Elektra Records as a recording artist in 1998, Nesler charted three singles on the U.S. ''Billboard'' country charts. In addition, he has writte ...

) - 3:06 #"Touch Me" (Johns, Hutton, Jon Henderson) - 3:38 #"The One in the Middle" (Johns, Sellers, Hutton) - 3:55 #"That's Just Me Getting Over You" (Johns, Dodson, Billy Lawson) - 4:04 #"He Hates Me" (Johns, Sellers,

Tim Nichols Tim Nichols (born in Portsmouth, Virginia) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Active since the late 1980s, Nichols has written for several country music singers, including Keith Whitley, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Jo Dee Messi ...

) - 2:59 #"Muddy Water" (Johns, Sellers, Nichols) - 3:02 #"It's Hard to Be a Girl (In a Young Man's World)" (Johns, Dodson,

Dean Dillon Dean Dillon (born Larry Dean Flynn; March 26, 1955) is an American country musician and songwriter. Between 1982 and 1993, he recorded six studio albums on various labels, and charted several singles on the '' Billboard'' country charts. Since 1 ...

) - 3:07

Album chart positions

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, Sarah American women country singers American country singer-songwriters BNA Records artists Country musicians from Kentucky Living people 1979 births Singer-songwriters from Kentucky Kentucky women musicians Singers from Kentucky 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers