Jamie Johnson On Co-Writing "Broken Angels" With Dolly Parton, Recovery, & More
Daniel Mullins: Welcome back to Real Roots Radio. I'm so excited to welcome my friend and founder of The Grascals, Jamie Johnson, on the Airwaves today. How you doing, Jamie?
Jamie Johnson: Daniel, my man, how you doing, buddy?
Daniel Mullins: Doing well, doing well. The Grascal's celebrating two decades as one of the top bands in the world of bluegrass. What's it mean to look back on 20 years of this band and what it's meant to the bluegrass community?
Jamie Johnson: Well we began this thing just for fun, just to have something else to do at the time and I think our time with Dolly early on set the pace. When you start that fast, I mean it just threw us out there. And then, of course, she decided to let us go in a good, loving way, even though it hurt. She knew if we wanted to be a band, like it appeared, that we needed to do that, and not just be Dolly's band. And right off the bat, Grammy nominations, the first two albums, nominations for the IBMA and the SPBGMA Awards, and people took notice. It was an awesome machine we had going with Terry Eldridge, Terry Smith, Jimmy Mattingly, Danny Roberts, myself, and David Talbot. Just great musicianship, and we’re buddies. We picked some of our favorite tunes, and we had a few that we had written here and there, and we had fun and people liked it. It grew from there into a business, and there were some really good business days and some that weren't as good, but overall, what a dream come true. Bands, you know, their destination is a career out of this. And 20, going on 21 years now, I think we proved our point and did some pretty good music along the way.
Daniel Mullins: How poignant that after your guys' first big shot going on the road with Dolly Parton, that here, two decades later, you guys have a new single out, featuring Miss Dolly Rebecca Parton. Why don't you tell us about this song? I know it's really personal to you.
Jamie Johnson: You know, started out with literally a broken crayon. I saw a young lady putting crayons up in a box and the broken ones were being tossed. I was just being a jokester, like, “don't them broken crayons still just color fine?” And that stuck in my head. I'm in recovery 10 and a half years, but, you know, folks suffer from depression, mental issues, and there was a time where that was not accepted. That was an excuse. Toughen up and move forward. And I'm not giving somebody the leeway to just say, “oh, I'm depressed,” blame everything on that, because it does take some work. You've gotta put faith over fear, you gotta ask for help. And then addiction comes into play, because most folks who become addicted have zero plans to become addicted. There's something they're running from, something they're not comfortable with in their own skin, and that gives them some sort of escape. And some of us it latches onto. It's the worst place I've ever been in my life. I've never been to hell. But I've been in addiction, and if it's anything like addiction, then I sure don't want to go to hell. It all came from them broken crayons, and it reminded me of me, and folks just like me, and then my best friend on this planet, who right now as we speak, has been sober for some months. And I love these months, but I always fear what's coming behind that, because usually it's another journey along the rollercoaster of life. So maybe he'll be sober the rest of his life and get what he so deserves. Best person I've ever met.
I started writing this song and kept getting hiccups in it. I was gonna shoot it out to some great songwriters, but I thought, I really want to get this to Dolly. She doesn't co-write, hardly ever, so I emailed it to her, followed the proper channels, and literally the next day, she called. She loves this person as much as I do. Her family, she's had a brother or two that have suffered from this and passed away from it, so she was ready to dig in, and when I showed up at her house, she had I think 6 or 7 verses completed. So, we just had to sift through. And I'd had a lot of mine done, too. I'd had the song close to halfway done, but it wasn't the way it needed to be, and thank you, Lord, for sending Dolly and her saying yes, and what an experience that nobody can ever take away from me if the song never goes anywhere. Hopefully, it touches a person or two. We recorded it together, hopefully we get to do something on the road together with this. We're just waiting to see what happens. What a blessing, and it turned out great. She's really excited about it. And we've been doing it live on the road, it's getting great response, getting great response at radio, folks coming up saying they've heard it, so what a blessing, Daniel, to make lemonade out of lemons, you know?
Daniel Mullins: You've mentioned your own journey in recovery, 10 and a half years. Congratulations, Jamie. God is so good, and this song is not the first time you've expressed your own journey to your fans and your followers. What's the response been on the road? I know that when you're performing with The Grascals, you'll open up about your own addiction, and encourage people who maybe are struggling to chat with you after the show, so you can be of help to them and go alongside them.
Jamie Johnson: I think it keeps me alive. I'm certainly not trying to prove anything to anybody, but I know for a fact that I felt like I was above asking for help. I thought I was a strong person because I'm pretty strong-willed and hard-headed. But underneath that, you know, is still a child, and one that carries the same fears as a child does, and maybe more than a child does. I think a grown-up sometimes has more insecurities. And so I open up about it, I try and make it brief. I don't want it to sound preachy by any means; I'm not trying to touch the whole world. I'm trying to touch the person who knows exactly where I was, and they know that I know where they're at. And if they feel comfortable, say hello, and if not, there are several other folks who can help them. I just want them to know before I sing the song that they are loved, they are worth it. It's okay to forgive yourself. That's where we gotta start. Forgive yourself, because the good Lord forgives us daily, and you can't forgive others unless you forgive yourself. We're usually carrying some sort of grief. It's just a real thing, and I live it daily. I go to meetings, I live in my recovery program, and I work with others, and that's what saved my life. Somebody had to answer my call, and they did just that, and I want to be able to offer the same thing, because it's priceless.
Daniel Mullins: Addiction is such a problem in our country, in our world. It seems like in our community, the music business, the music community, it's something that a lot of people kind of turn a blind eye to, just with the nature of the business, I guess. What are some signs that people might want to look for if they have a friend or a loved one that's struggling with addiction?
Jamie Johnson: If they're at that point, they really don't need signs, it's pretty evident. That person's struggling pretty bad when it gets to that point. And I just encourage them to love them and pray for them that they'll be able to walk through this journey. Family members are the ones who really get the brunt of this, and it's awful. There are programs for them, too, that will help them. They could always message me, jamiegrascal@gmail.com, and I'll talk to them and get them to people. Because we don't have the answers. What we do is we love them, we pray for them, and hope they get to that point where they're tired of being tired. And then they get to a loving spot for themselves to be able to ask for the help that they need. Some people can get sober on their own, and families don't know if they can or can't, but some people need help. And it's a fine line, but there are programs for the families. All you gotta do is Google it. Or reach out to somebody you know who is in recovery, like me. And don't be shy about it. Because if they truly are in recovery, they're gonna answer your call as quickly as they can.
Daniel Mullins: Jamie, appreciate you being such an advocate and a spokesperson to help people be healthier. It's so important. Appreciate the work and the advocacy you're doing with this song, and you mentioned going to Dolly directly for a co-write on this one. Hopefully, that pays dividends on being able to bless people with more people hearing this message and this song, and being able to find help for themselves or for others.
Jamie Johnson: Absolutely. She wants the message out there. As we mentioned privately earlier, she had a few health issues, but she's doing great, she's recovering. And we're gonna be shooting a video on the song, and she's doing some promos on it, so she really wants to reach people, because she has plenty of loved ones, like we all do, and friends that are affected by this. So, we really want the people to hear it, love it, and embrace it.
Daniel Mullins: Where can folks go to learn more about The Grascals? This new single is on Billy Blue Records. I know you guys are working on a new album for your new home for your recorded music, which is super exciting. You guys have a busy tour schedule. Where can folks go to keep up with what you guys have going on?
Jamie Johnson: Grascals.com. You can go to our Facebook, all the social medias, and it's pretty easy to find us if you Google the name of The Grascals, we're there everywhere these days, and come see us if we're at a town near you. Thanks to folks like you, Daniel, for spinning our music; that's the only way people get to hear it, especially if we're not on television that much, and so radio is the spot, and thank you for doing that. We're excited about Billy Blue. We're all done, we're just ready for the mix and to get it to you guys as quick as possible. We cut it at Ben Isaac's studio, so…
Daniel Mullins: A time was had, is what you're saying?
Jamie Johnson: Indeed. Lots of laughs, a lot of poking at each other, but yeahit was good stuff.
Daniel Mullins: Do you have any other recommended resources that folks can inquire about when it comes to finding help with addiction or mental health struggles they may be having?
Jamie Johnson: Oh, I would always go to Alcoholics Anonymous or any of those anonymous programs are the ones. There is no money exchange involved. It's loving people. If you're going to a fire, and you're walking in there, you're gonna want to follow a fire chief. If you're going into surgery, you're going to be wanting to follow a doctor, you know? If you're wanting this, you want to follow the ones that have walked out of this storm and are seeing all the benefits of life that they deserve, so… follow those guys.
Daniel Mullins: Man, thanks so much for your leadership on this topic. It's a tough one to talk about, but it's one that impacts us all. Thanks for your work in releasing this song with Dolly Parton to help raise awareness and encourage those who are struggling.
Jamie Johnson: Absolutely. Love you, Daniel. Thank you for everything you do, buddy.
