Some songwriters craft lyrics about themselves and their own experiences. Some compose tales of other people, real and imagined. Other artists, like Jason Paul Johnston, intricately balance these two options and even cause you to place yourself in the story. On his 2009 debut album, ‘Willows Motel’, Jason Paul Johnston has delicately created refrains that capture his own journey as well as engaging and moving tales of familiar folks we have all known.

Much like the Kings Of Leon, Jason is the son of a preacher man. Bringing less rock and more country than the Kings, Jason knows his roots well and there are glimpses woven within the many stories he writes. His father hails from the Great White North while his mother is a music teacher originally from Tennessee, giving his muse northern and southern winds.   Jason finds his kindred musical spirits with Neil Young and the Avett Brothers, though less frenetic. Jason blends the styles, sounds and soul of his autobiography and those he has met as he writes his own account of life’s darker challenges – but still maintains hope that everything is not lost.

Now living in a holler outside of Jackson, KY, Jason is working on a followup series of free albums:  100 Stories volumes 1-10.  Essentially 100 personal songs that Jason wanted to share split into 10 albums.  The first will hit digital shelves Nov. 1, 2011.