This month’s spotlight is on Johnnie Mikel, a Bowling Green native who happens to be an incredible singer songwriter and musician who’s making major waves in the music industry since dropping his 2017 debut single “Come with Me.”
If you haven’t yet heard this multi-talented artist’s stylistically eclectic pop/rock magic, you will soon enough. Johnnie’s a global streaming sensation with hundreds of thousands of listeners on Spotify. His breakthrough 2020 singles “Revolution” and “Nothing to Lose” amassed a combined total of over 1M streams. Big stuff, sure, but those kickin’ viral tracks just set the stage for his breakthrough in 2022 with “I Hope It Hurts,” which scored lots of radio airplay and broke into the Top 50 at Billboard.
Johnnie was also the most added independent artist at radio and continues to land in the top 100 on the mediabase radio chart. You can have all the Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and TikTok success you want, but hitting Billboard is pretty much the way the powers that be in the biz measure success and long-term viability. So yeah, this is a big deal. Taking him to the next level and all that.
Further proof of this is who our friend is collaborating with. In the past, he worked with Tommy Lee and Nash Overstreet (Hot Chelle Rae) and opened for the late Charlie Daniels, Little River Band and Josh Turner. Johnnie wrote his latest single, a fiery, funked out power ballad “Fallen Angel” with Lauren Christy, best known for her trailblazing work with songwriting and production team The Matrix.
This trio was massive in the 2000s, winning seven Grammy Awards and scoring mega-hits with Avril Lavigne (including her breakthrough “Complicated”), Christina Aguilera, Jason Mraz, Shakira, Britney Spears and Korn. If you haven’t heard Johnnie’s vibe before, “Fallen Angel” is a good place to start. It’s funky and sexy “good girl gone bad” tune with swampy, bluesy guitar and vocals.
Johnnie’s also working with a major producer on his upcoming debut album Purgatory. James Michael’s big- name credits include Mötley Crüe, Alanis Morissette, Kelly Clarkson, Scorpions, Sammy Hagar and Meat Loaf. The album includes “Fallen Angel,” “I Hope It Hurts” and Johnnie’s other recent single “Obsessed with U.”
These days, artists mostly drop singles to keep fans’ attention, and an EP every so often if we’re lucky. So the fact that Johnnie’s so prolific and has the vision to do a full length album is pretty incredible. Not only that, but the whole project is driven by his desire to add his creative fuel to the collective of progressive, socially active voices organizing for change.
Musically, the album’s tough to pigeonhole, but that’s a strength in a world of cookie cutter trifles. He also covers some heavy topics – everything from mental health in the music industry to the effects of social media on youth, human rights and disillusionment in love and politics. Bold, super-heady stuff for a guy who’s still an emerging artist. But that’s Johnnie, whose deeply confessional lyrics also totally reverberate these crazy, anxious (but hopeful, always gotta be hopeful!) times.
You can follow him at…
https://www.instagram.com/johnniemikel
-by Jonathan Widran
About the Author: Jonathan Widran is a veteran music journalist and public relations and business writer who can be reached via his review blog The JW Vibe (www.jwvibe.com).
