ABOUT
Georgia Lee Johnson is a singer-songwriter and multi-disciplined performing artist from Vancouver, British Columbia. After a three-year stint in Cork, Ireland mid-childhood, she relocated to New York in 2009 to pursue a BFA in Theatre at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Throughout her upbringing, she was equally passionate about all disciplines of performing arts and had the chance to exercise many different performing muscles by way of her education at Playwrights Horizons Theatre School. It was during this time that Georgia first met Billy Aukstik (founder of Dala Records), and became immersed in the New York City Jazz music scene. College friendships facilitated a process of osmosis in which Georgia sponged in many musical influences, while simultaneously developing her craft as a body-based performer and storyteller.
In 2011, one of these college friendships led to her role as the line-producer of a full-length music documentary in collaboration with Josh Garrels and Mason Jar Music calledThe Sea In Between. The film, which involved twelve live-recorded music videos, was shot on Mayne Island, British Columbia, a location where Georgia spent most of her summers growing up. Her involvement inTSIBawoke a desire to work more closely with music, and especially sparked a need to write her own songs. Her artistic community in New York continued to inspire and encourage her to take steps to begin writing songs, which ended up going hand-in-hand with her relocation back to the West Coast. At this point, while still having sporadic involvements in theatre work, she began to dedicate herself more deeply to songwriting.
Drawing on her training in experimental performance, Georgia aims to use song as a format for story-telling, mixing vivid imagery with lush harmonics. She pulls inspiration from the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest for the bulk of her poetic imagery; the themes of her songs range from grief, to delight, transformation, and reverence. In October, 2018, she released her first full-length album entitledWanderling, recorded in Vancouver and produced by Jordan Klassen. She currently lives in Stuttgart, Germany and is completing a Masters degree in Waldorf Pedagogy.
Georgia’s debut collaboration with Dala Records results in her five-song EP entitledLanguages. This record sees Georgia fusing her compositions with elements of soul, jazz and pop to craft a record that emits both mystery and familiarity. This album is truly a family affair, with performances by Georgia and Billy’s closest friends including guitarist Matt Harvey, drummer Miles Arntzen(Antibalas, EMEFE) and saxophonist/flautist Jas Walton(Sinkane, EMEFE). Georgia and Billy round out the rest of the backing band themselves, playing everything from a 1970 Arp Omni Synthesizer to the Coral Electric Sitar. The backbone of the record is a vintage 1970s drum machine, now almost signature to the Dala Records sound. Over this analog backdrop, Georgia expertly layers her vocals to create a world blending both the vintage and modern experience.
