Former American Idol finalist, MICHAEL JOHNS will be performing his new single “Heart on My Sleeve” on The Ellen DeGeneres Show next Monday, May 25th. The Aussie vocalist will be releasing his first post-Idol solo album, Hold Back My Heart on June 23rd. Encouraged by his mentor David Foster, who invited Johns to appear on his star-studded David Foster And Friends PBS special in December 2008, Johns chose the road less traveled, and for the first time in his adult life, went to work on an album with no deal in place. “Foster always said that the secret of his success is to look at whatever lane is open in the music industry and take it,” Johns recalls. “And the way my record combines old and new, I could open for Alicia Keys one night and John Mayer the next, it’s right in the middle.” Songwriter Diane Warren, who penned the knee-buckling ballad “Heart Is Weak,” was another key endorsement. “There’s nothing more validating than having these heavyweights behind you,” says Johns. “It’s like screw winning American Idol when people like David Foster and Diane Warren are saying you have the real thing here.”
With an album completed and ready to turn in, Johns had the rare freedom to shop it around, and when Downtown Records, home to Gnarls Barkley, Cold War Kids and Santigold, showed interest in a licensing deal, he jumped at the opportunity to finally control his own fate. “I think we’re in the most exciting period of music ever, because there’s so many ways to do it,” he says. And like most of his plans thus far, Johns is thinking big for his future. “The live show is going to be great,” he says excitedly. “I might even take it old school with different bands in different towns — almost like what Chuck Berry and all those guys used to do.”
Tune in to see Michael Johns on The Ellen DeGeneres Show next Monday, May 25th. Check your local listings for times.
“HEART ON MY SLEEVE” audio embed code:
