Entertain Me By Michael Shinafelt

YT Channel: http://www.youtube.com/CalebJohnsonOfficial

Instagram: https://instagram.com/CalebJohnson/

Friday, April 10, 2015

Caleb Johnson: No Gravity Required

Caleb Johnson: Testify!
Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

Season 13 "American Idol" winner Caleb Johnson is busy! He has his upcoming first ever headlining tour, the freshman video from his album "Testify" for the single "Fighting Gravity" and he has teamed up with Do Something for it's Patient Playbooks Campaign.

Tell us about it, Caleb...

MS: I really enjoy your song and the video for "Fighting Gravity."

CJ: Thank you. I really appreciate that.

MS: It's really great that you tied it to bring awareness to children with pediatric cancer, after having met a child with it.

CJ: Well, Thank You. That was a pivotal moment in my life that I will never forget. It's something that impacted me enough to where I wanted to tell that story and show people what I saw. Most artists, musicians, writers, whatever, pull from their personal experiences. That was something that really touched something in me, where I felt I really wanted to tell this story, and to do it in a really beautiful eloquent way. It's a really grim story, he was a healthy young thirteen year old kid a year ago, then he got diagnosed and then he was gone. Just like that, it was that quick. This stuff happens and a lot of people never take the time to think about it because it doesn't affect them. It makes you sit and think about your life, because you never know what's going to happen when it's going happen. Walking into that room and seeing the Mother's face when it happened she had that: "I'm here, but I'm not here" look on her face, it's so bad she had just probably numbed herself to the point of trying to cope with it.

There's some really haunting experiences that happened that made me really want to tell that story. I really wanted to tell the story well, musically and visually, it's really cool to see it come to life like that.

Fighting Gravity

MS: Yes, it's really well done all the way around. Since you gravitate towards rock I noticed a lyric in the song: "dark side of the moon" was that a Pink Floyd reference?

CJ: Somebody else asked that too. Yeah, it was. (laughs) What's cool is this was the first song I wrote for my album "Testify." The song and the video took on a life of it's own, but the original concept was that it was a tragic love story. They broke up, and one of the lovers love the other so much that they tried to fight to keep the relationship. Unfortunately you can't fight the inevitable, and that was the whole metaphor of "Fighting Gravity," you can't stop gravity and you can't stop the break up of the relationship. It's that tragic love story where two people have been in a relationship so long, they kind of fall out of it, they try to get it back together and it just never works. We wanted to use the metaphors of gravity, atmosphere and that's how we came up with Pink Floyd "dark side of the moon." (laughs)

MS: Talk some about your involvement with Do Something and their Patient Playbooks campaign.

CJ: My manager called me and asked me about doing the Playbooks, and I told her: "absolutely!" In the book you make up your own little game scenarios, you color pictures. I drew a dragon breathing fire, it's a really cool, easy and creative way to make a huge difference in somebody's life. The fact that it will be given to somebody and hopefully make their day is such a huge honor.

MS: So, how did it actually feel to win "American Idol?"

CJ: Very humbling. It was a huge honor to win the whole thing, very surreal. After I had won I had to do a bunch of stuff and it didn't really settle in until the next day.

MS: It looks like a whirlwind.

CJ: You know, in a way the fun doesn't stop. I immediately went to work on the record, went on tour, did a bunch of press. All kinds of fun stuff! I've just had a blast! Now with the video & single I am headlining my first tour this May.

MS: How do you feel about your first headliner?

CJ: It's my first headliner, "yes!" So it's pretty nerve wracking, but it's going to be a lot of fun! I love to perform and I'm going to be hitting the road in May. Tickets went on sale last week. It's going to be awesome!

MS: "Devil's Daughter" is another song that caught my ear off of "Testify."

CJ: I wrote that song with some completely amazing writers, Blair Daly & Steve Diamond. I think we wrote it in 45 minutes. It's a very straightforward rock song.

MS: For me it was reminiscent of Bon Jovi.

CJ: I really love classic rock.

MS: Me too.

CJ: There's a great organ solo, we really wanted to make a fun groovy, bluesy, rock-n-roll tune. The song is about a woman who's so bad she's good, you know what I'm saying? You can't resist her wicked touch, it's very, very throwback 1970's rock-n-roll. That song was a lot of fun, because that is my wheelhouse, that kind of stuff. I love the harder, groovier, rock-n-roll stuff.

MS: Something about your voice is reminiscent of Joe Cocker to me.

CJ: I grew up listening to Joe Cocker, Chris Cornell, Freddie Mercury and Steve Perry. I was just really raised on a lot of that stuff. Those are the artist that shaped my voice.

MS: Who would you like to do a duet with?

CJ: Chris Cornell or Lady Gaga.

"Testify" with Caleb at:

http://bitly.com/FightingGravityYahooPremiere

YT Channel: http://www.youtube.com/CalebJohnsonOfficial

Instagram: https://instagram.com/CalebJohnson/

Friday, April 3, 2015

Cheers To Kelly Clarkson!

Kelly Clarkson: Where's The Wine?
Photo: Michael Rozman/Warner Brothers

Kelly Clarkson has always been the subject of ridicule about her weight. Even when she was on American Idol.

Weight is such a boring subject and if it does not bother Ms. Clarkson why the Hell should it bother you?

The Kelly bomb appeared on Ellen and got a resounding cheer from DeGeneres and the crowd, and didn't apologize about her gorgeous, curvaceous figure for one second. "I yo-yo," she said, "Sometimes I'm more fit and I get into kickboxing hardcore, and then sometimes I don't and go, 'Nope, I'd rather have wine!'"

Hooray Kelly, when in doubt wine should always win!

T.G.I.F! Have a toast with Kelly at:

https://www.facebook.com/kellyclarkson

https://twitter.com/kelly_clarkson

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Caleb Johnson Is On The Loose!

Mustang Johnson

AMERICAN IDOL WINNER CALEB JOHNSON PREMIERES HIS OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO FOR “FIGHTING GRAVITY”

EXCLUSIVELY ON YAHOO MUSIC TODAY

JOHNSON TO PARTNER WITH DOSOMETHING.ORG FOR ITS

“PATIENT PLAYBOOKS” CAMPAIGN

Caleb Johnson is on the loose his video for the single "Fighting Gravity" drops today, not to mention he has teamed up with Do Something.org, read on Johnson fans, read on...!

Season 13 American Idol Winner CALEB JOHNSON has partnered with Yahoo Music for the exclusive premiere of his first official music video “Fighting Gravity,” which can be viewed here: http://bitly.com/FightingGravityYahooPremiere beginning today Tuesday, March 24:

This poignant piece was inspired by a real life experience and conceptualized by Caleb, along with Mark Staubach (American Authors, Travie McCoy, Dirty Heads) who also directed the video. Caleb explains: “The video was inspired by a personal experience I had this past year while visiting a family whose son had a rare but terminal form of pediatric cancer. Using “Fighting Gravity” as the musical backdrop, I wanted to create an emotional connection and raise awareness of a disease that tragically affects so many families. I hope people will be inspired to lend support to people they know that are going through similar experiences.”

”Fighting Gravity,” co-written by Caleb, Brian Howes & Lenny Skolnik, is the first official video release from his TESTIFY album. The album features 10 tracks produced by Howard Benson (Bon Jovi, My Chemical Romance, Gavin DeGraw) with Caleb backed by the furious playing of Jane’s Addictionbassist Chris Chaney, former Nine Inch Nails/Guns N’ Roses drummer Josh Freese, and guitarist Phil X (Rob Zombie and Tommy Lee).

In addition, Caleb is joining forces with the organization, DoSomething.org for its “Patient Playbooks” campaign in conjunction with the release of “Fighting Gravity.” “Patient Playbooks encourages young people to make activity books for children in hospitals to brighten their stay. To sign up and download a playbook template, visit DoSomething.org/FightingGravity

Caleb will perform “Fighting Gravity” at the Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, April 11 as well as at the 2015 National Memorial Day Parade in DC on Monday, May 25. Johnson will also perform a hometown show on Saturday, May 2^nd at Harrah’s Casino in Cherokee, North Carolina. Caleb is planning a string of tour dates throughout the Southeast during the month of May. A full list of tour dates to be announced soon at CalebJohnsonOfficial.com.

TESTIFY is now available on iTunes: http://bit.ly/TestifyAlbumiTunes

SMART URLs:

Testify on iTunes: http://bit.ly/TestifyAlbumiTunes

Fighting Gravity on iTunes: http://bit.ly/FightingGravityiTunes

Testify on Spotify: http://bit.ly/TestifyAlbumSpotify

Fighting Gravity on Spotify: http://bit.ly/FightingGravitySpotify

Testify Available Now Teaser on YT: http://bit.ly/TestifyAvailNowYT

CALEB SOCIALS/SITES:

YT Channel: http://www.youtube.com/CalebJohnsonOfficial

Instagram: https://instagram.com/CalebJohnson/

DoSomething.org: DoSomething.org makes the world suck less. One of the largest global orgs for young people and social change, our 3.5 million members tackle campaigns that impact every cause, from poverty to violence to the environment to literally everything else. Any cause, anytime, anywhere.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Caleb Johnson is "Fighting Gravity"

Action! Caleb On Set

AMERICAN IDOL WINNER CALEB JOHNSON OFFERS SNEAK PEEK OF FIRST OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO TODAY

CHECK OUT THE TEASER CLIP HERE: http://bit.ly/FightingGravityTeaser

OFFICIAL FULL-LENGTH MUSIC VIDEO FOR “FIGHTING GRAVITY”
SET TO PREMIERE EXCLUSIVELY ON YAHOO MUSIC
TUESDAY, MARCH 24

Rock your gravity out!

Season 13 American Idol Winner CALEB JOHNSON has revealed a 30 second teaser clip to his first official music video for “Fighting Gravity” today.

Click here to view: http://bit.ly/FightingGravityTeaser

“Fighting Gravity” will make its full-length premiere on Tuesday, March 24 exclusively on Yahoo Music. This poignant piece was inspired by a real life experience and conceptualized by Caleb, along with Mark Staubach (American Authors, Travie McCoy, Dirty Heads) who also directed the video. Caleb explains: “The video was inspired by a personal experience I had this past year while visiting a family whose son had a rare but terminal form of pediatric cancer. Using “Fighting Gravity” as the musical backdrop, I wanted to create an emotional connection and raise awareness of a disease that tragically affects so many families. I hope people will be inspired to lend support to people they know that are going through similar experiences.”

”Fighting Gravity,” co-written by Caleb, Brian Howes & Lenny Skolnik, is the first official video release from his TESTIFY album. The album features 9 tracks produced by Howard Benson (Bon Jovi, My Chemical Romance, Gavin DeGraw) with Caleb backed by the furious playing of Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, former Nine Inch Nails/Guns N’ Roses drummer Josh Freese, and guitarist Phil X (Rob Zombie and Tommy Lee).

Caleb will perform “Fighting Gravity” at the Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, April 11 and is also set to perform on Saturday, May 2^nd at Harrah’s Casino in Cherokee, North Carolina. Caleb is also planning a string of tour dates through the Southeast throughout May. A full list of tour dates to be announced soon.

TESTIFY is now available on iTunes: http://bit.ly/TestifyAlbumiTunes

SMART URLs:

Fighting Gravity [Official Music Video Teaser]: http://bit.ly/FightingGravityTeaser

Testify on iTunes: http://bit.ly/TestifyAlbumiTunes

Fighting Gravity on iTunes: http://bit.ly/FightingGravityiTunes

Testify on Spotify: http://bit.ly/TestifyAlbumSpotify

Fighting Gravity on Spotify: http://bit.ly/FightingGravitySpotify

Testify Available Now Teaser on YT: http://bit.ly/TestifyAvailNowYT

CALEB SOCIALS/SITES: