Celebration of Music - Talent Search

My name is Tiffany Johnson and I am a 14-year-old singer/songwriter from Rapid City, South Dakota. I began songwriting at the age of 8, starting off by co-writing with my mentor and aspiring LA artist Layne. I have written albums worth of songs and recorded around 13 of them with local musicians, as well as made demos myself. I also have music videos on YouTube.

When I was younger I would always sing little songs I made up, but when I was 8 I met Layne who taught me the basics of songwriting. I learned how to structure a song with verses, a pre-chorus, chorus and bridge. From there, I wrote all sorts of songs on my own. I continue to collaborate with people whenever I can. I have a live recorded album with 7 original songs on it titled “See Clearly Again.” This album was recorded during one of my performances at the Central States Fair. I love to be on stage and hope to pursue a career in music performance. Who knows, maybe I could be the next Taylor Swift!

My song “Bad Boy Aren’t Worth Crying For” is based on a real-life experience. I had been working on a cord progression on my guitar but hadn’t written lyrics yet. I went to a hometown basketball game with a guy who ended up ditching me for his ex-girlfriend. After that I went home, and the words flowed out of me. The first thing I thought of was the line “Bad Boy Aren’t Worth Crying For” and from there I pieced together the rest of the song.

Typically, I accompany myself on guitar and I have played numerous instruments throughout my life.

Recently, my original song - Reach - was awarded a National Award at the annual PTA Reflections contest.

YouTube: Original song Reach. https://youtu.be/fNdZA2okG5Q