Campbell and Johnston is a super-charged duo out of Halifax. Together they put together great harmonies and frequently trade places singing or soloing their guitars. They have already picked up numerous awards, and if their new album, Paisley Hearts is any indication, there are a lot more awards coming.
Ken Wallis interviewed Christine Campbell and Blake Johnston of Campbell and Johnston for the radio show BluesSource Canada. The following are excerpts from that interview, edited and amended by brevity and clarity.
Ken Wallis
Campbell and Johnstone's newest release is Paisley Hearts. It's a smoking hot album and we're pleased to have both Christine Campbell and Blake Johnston join us. Great meeting you two. So first of all, tell us how you two got together.
Christine Campbell
Well, we both had rock bands years back. One day he opened for us, and I was like, I don't want to follow that. Over the years, I was like a big fan of what Blake did, and we played a couple of shows together. So we were in different bands. And then eventually I did a solo project and I was after about a year of just going completely solo and releasing like a folkier album. They asked me for a Dutch Mason Blues Festival slot to put together a band, and it didn't matter the size, so I said I'll have some fun with it and hire some friends. And Blake was the first person I thought of, but I actually didn't reach out. I just happened to see him very luckily at this spot right before the show and so I hired him for that. Then we just started working together slowly and eventually writing music and eventually building a studio in a house and having a kid and now mutually founding a band.
Ken Wallis
Well, I have to ask you, how do you go about writing your songs? Do you do it together or separately?
Blake Johnston
I wish we had a set way of doing things because it might make the whole process easier, but it comes in all shapes and sizes. Some of them we sit down and work some music or lyrics together. Sometimes I've had a bit of a chord progression going and we bring it there. Sometimes Chris has the skeleton. Writing is the only thing I know. I've been doing this for a long time and I still feel like I have zero experience in doing it or I have like no idea how to do it.
Christine Campbell
The only thing I will say is even though we kind of, each have little bits and pieces that we bring to the table, and probably different varying ways that we write on our own. When we write together, it's almost exclusively at a cottage, so anytime we have a vacation which is pretty rare, but if we can just get like two days here or with the exception of last summer, normally we try to get like one week at a cottage each summer just to tune out and recuperate and regroup. And that just ends up being a place where we write because it's the only time that we can really clear our heads of the business side.
Ken Wallis
I caught you at the Orangeville Blues Festival and I was amazed how you harmonized together. Then you took turns on lead vocals and the lead guitar work. It was like back and forth. How do you decide who sings? Basically is it who writes that song? Or is there a formula for you?
Blake Johnston
A lot of times, it's Christine who has that higher vocal range and she can sing a lot of those. Sort of classic rock and roll or gospel. We’re big fans of the Stones or the Black Crowes, bands of that ilk. A lot of times we're going for that vibe. I can't sing that high, so it's almost by default. There's a song called Find Your Way. It's the first song on the record that I wrote. Some of that on my own and when we were getting the song together, the verse melody, it was like I can't sing this. I just couldn't. I was just not hitting the notes and she was hitting them. So, I said why don't you sing that? And I'll just sing the chorus. So sometimes, it's she can take it cause she’ll sound better doing that. And we just kind of work some of it like that.
Christine Campbell
As much as I'd love to just write a song and play lead guitar all day long and just showcase yourself. I think it's more important to just make a song sound like it should. And we often describe it as like chiseling out the marble. I mean it already exists, but how do we bring it out into its best light in our filter? So I think more than anything, we just kind of see what feels right, what comes naturally. Sometimes scatting or just trying things out, or maybe it's in the demoing process in the studio, or just when you hear it back and you realize, oh, this isn't working or something magical might have happened.
Ken Wallis
What's the significance of the title Paisley Hearts?
Blake Johnston
To me it's a pretty good representative of rock'n'roll of the sort of hobo-gypsy troubadour kind of lifestyle. It's like a handkerchief on the end of the stick. It’s a visual representation and just meaning this is sort of what I am at heart or what we are at heart. So that's kind of what I was getting at with it as far as what other people think it means. If you think it means something that's probably what it means.
Christine Campbell
It's basically the front of our amps for people listening. It's a bandana and particularly for the album cover, we chose the amp that we have. It's a Tweed amp, Blues junior. The grill cloth is a red bandana. It’s a grill cloth cover for all our amps, one of the many neat upholstery things Blake does to kind of like make our office look a little cooler. We're both a little bit retro vintage in our style and our inspiration and our music. It definitely just kind of goes with what that is and we both got heavily influenced by records and that style of music. Being g musicians, I think the Paisley Hearts thing is just kind of like the heart and soul that we put into the music and the driving force of it. And if you look at the album cover, the Bandana instead of Paisley in the middle, it's actually like little organ hearts. It's the heart and soul of the band.
Ken Wallis
If you were to pick one song to refer a listener to, is there one song that you think would be most significant or stand out the most for somebody that hasn't heard your music before?
Christine Campbell
We just talked about this yesterday, about how difficult it is to convey yourself in a song, and even sometimes an album feeling more like a discography. And honestly, I still feel like I haven't come close to finishing it and showing our characters. Sometimes Blake’s in the lab with his guitar doing crazy things and I'm dying to show the world. Other times there's notes I sing and I'm like, man, I really want to somehow add that to a song, but I haven't been able to do it yet. So, to find a song that shows my piano ability, my guitar ability, Blake’s guitar ability, his slide ability or singing. It also really represents our taste and also is relevant to today's music. I feel like this album got closer, but if you were to talk about our music or our style, I'd say Don't Get Down On A Good Thing. It probably best represents what we love about music and what inspired us the most. Cause it's very Hendrixy, a little Deep Purply, Stonesy kind of thing. But that may not necessarily showcase the vocals or the guitar or what we do if you were trying to figure out what our capabilities are.
Ken Wallis
Most importantly, where can fans get a hold of your music.
Christine Campbell
Websites, always good, https://www.campbellandjohnstonmusic.com/ Johnston has a T in it, so it's pretty exotic, but I'd say we're mostly accessible on Facebook and Instagram. Those are where we kind of really chat the most with fans with a lot kind support for us. We find out what they like the most as we know that they're genuine fans and they kind of keep the excitement and the motivation going. I guess the website is the best. We're on YouTube, we're just shy of that subscriber 1000 mark as well so if anybody goes to YouTube that would be great if you want to be a subscriber
Blake Johnston
Spotify and Apple Music if you're streaming. The streaming platforms that are everybody's most familiar with and then we'll also ship out the CD's or records if anybody gets in touch with us through Instagram, Facebook or Bandcamp, they can place orders there and we'll ship those out.
Ken Wallis
I always encourage people to buy rather than streaming.
Blake Johnston
Yeah, us too.
Christine Campbell
It's feels important, this day and age, you can't fight the current or you'll drown. You just have to get your music out there in all shapes and forms and people, if they really dig you, will try to support you the way that they know how and can. So, if they can't buy CD's, they might buy shirts or something like that.
Ken Wallis
It's been great chatting with you two. I wish you all the best, it's a fabulous album and thanks so much for coming on the show.
Blake Johnston
Thanks, man. That's too kind of you.
Christine Campbell
Yeah, it's been a real treat chatting with you.
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