Concert Reviews

Carolyn Dawn Johnson

Rodeo Club - 7/30/02
San Jose, CA

Concert Review by Jeff Krasky

Carolyn Dawn Johnson has taken the country music industry by storm with her debut album Room with a View which has turned out hits like “Complicated” and “I Don’t Want You To Go”. She’s also been out on the road opening for shows like the smash “Girls Night Out” tour with Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, and others. Carolyn’s album and her performance at “Girl’s Night Out” had already impressed me so I jumped at the chance to get to see her perform a full set and no one left the Rodeo Club disappointed.

Johnson opened with “Just Another Girl”, a song that I always thought should be a single. It’s a great tune and it got the crowd going right away. She followed it up with a steady stream of music from her album including “You Are”, “Masterpiece”, and “I’ll Think Of You That Way”. Of course the hit singles like “Georgia” and “Complicated” were included. The slightly more rocked up version of “Complicated” had the entire place singing along.

We got to hear some new songs which might make it on Carolyn’s next record and they were all great. I don’t have titles but be on the lookout for one that she co-wrote with Deana Carter. It’s a hell of a song. The ballad “Practicing” was also great. If these songs are what we get to look forward to on the Room with a View follow-up then we are all in for a treat.

Carolyn even picked up an electric guitar and hammered out a rocking version of Sheryl Crow’s hit song “Every Day Is A Winding Road” followed by her guitarist sing the Bryan Adams tune “Cuts Like A Knife”. Quite a versatile artist and band.

CDJ also performed a number of songs that she wrote which have turned into hits for other artists. A stripped down acoustic version of “Downtime” was one of the highlights. Carolyn can really play that guitar! Her version of “Single White Female” would hold it’s own against Chely Wright’s smash hit version. She also rocked up “I’m Yours” originally recorded by Linda Davis. She even handled some requests and worked up versions of “Just Because” which has never made it out of demo recordings (we can hope it makes it on a record somewhere down the line) and “You’re So Cool” which resulted in a pretty magical moment with the crowd helping Carolyn out with the “Yeah, yeah, yeah” vocal bits. She said the song was her dream record with Patty Loveless putting it on her album but Carolyn’s more playful version of the song was a real winner.

The show ended with the hit single “I Don’t Want You To Go” and an encore performance of the Kendalls hit “Heaven’s Just A Sin Away”.

We’ve only seen the beginning for this talented artist. She’s a rock solid writer, musician, and singer. Carolyn Dawn Johnson put on a hell of a show. If you get a chance to catch this rising star don’t miss out. She’s got no where to go but up, she’s that good.

Editor's Note: I also had the chance to see Carolyn at a second show the next night at a different venue and it was every bit as entertaining as the first. She really does put on a great show and everyone each night that I talked to enjoyed themselves. She's also one of the nicest people you're going to meet. She took the time to talk to each fan she met with during Meet and Greets, never once rushing through even though the lines were long and she had a show to get ready for. A real class act.

Carolyn Dawn Johnson Live Concert Photos