When I met KC Johns at CRS 2025, I was instantly drawn to her energy. More importantly, her music matched her electrifying can-do attitude.

Johns was born in Memphis and raised in Hernando, Mississippi, a small town along the Tennessee-Mississippi line. Most of her family hails from Florida. Her mother and stepfather met on the rodeo circuit, where her mother did barrel racing, and her dad was a bull rider. While neither of her parents was a musical performer, she was always surrounded by it and was even named after KC and the Sunshine Band.

Her grandfather played the guitar and got her one when she was 15. She recalled, "I took it up after him. I immediately knew I wanted to play, sing, and write songs."

When she was 17, Johns and her mother went to Nashville for Spring Break. "I just took my guitar and started hitting all the clubs on Broadway, asking people if I could sing on stage. I knew this was something that I wanted to do for the rest of my life," she shared.

Not long after that, Johns went/performed on a cruise ship with many other artists she was working with at the time. While on the trip, she met some members of the house (ship?) band.

By this time, Johns was 21. She told the cruise director, "Man, this sounds like a really cool job." He said a good word for her, and she sent the cruise line a demo tape. She got the job and a contract to perform for six months, which ultimately lasted for six years.

Johns knew she couldn't be a cruise ship performer forever, so she eventually left and got a job at Dollywood in one of their musical theater productions. She was there for a year, but the urge to be a full-time singer/songwriter never left her.

In 2017, John moved permanently to Nashville, where she finally pursued her dream of performing as a solo artist.

She explained, "I had nowhere to stay. I packed up all my stuff and took a chance, sleeping on friends' couches and singing on Broadway again. Before I knew it, I started meeting incredible and influential people."

From 2017 to 2020, Johns performed on Broadway every day. She made her way up the mainstream ladder by opening for artists like Luke Bryan, Chris Young, Randy Houser, Trailer Choir, and Morgan Wade.

Then the pandemic hit, and like everyone else in the entertainment industry, she had to pivot. In 2020, she started doing TikTok Lives and Facebook Lives and meeting people online.

They were like, "Man, we'd love for you to come and do a private party." Suddenly, Johns was doing shows in Norway. As the world opened back up, she continued traveling to perform at various venues and festivals. Songs like "Whiskey Break" and later "Confused" helped shape the direction to come. She released her digital debut album, Thunder, in 2022.

While Johns rocks a little harder than your average country singer, she also incorporates her beloved Memphis blues into her music.  She explained, "I wanted to take all those influences and combine them together, lyrically and musically."

The song "Dodging Bullets" is more rock than country, and its energy is unmatched. She can certainly relate to the lyrics in her cover of "Maybe It Was Memphis."

Lately, Johns has become more intentional and personal in her songwriting. Her biggest hit to date, "Rodeo Queen," was about her parents. She recently wrote a song about her grandfather, which will be released this fall.

Her most recent single, "Smoke Show," is an anthem to support females. She shared, "Smoke Show' is a song written for the girls! It should be okay for women to tell women they are beautiful, strong, intelligent, and straight-up SMOKE SHOWS! During live shows, from the stage, I often point out when a girl has taken the time out of her hard-workin' day to curl her hair, fix her makeup, and search for the perfect outfit (to impress someone maybe) - that she is an absolute SMOKE SHOW! Women should share this message with other women more often. It gives them confidence."

While Johns continues to play festivals and venues around the country, her publicist has secured a three-week tour of England, which will start on May 8th. I have recently watched Great Britain and the rest of Europe go all-in with country music. It's a treat for artists and fans alike when they "hop across the pond" and perform to newfound fans.

Johns is also a regular in the burgeoning Key West bar and music scene, and she will perform during the Key West Song Writers' Festival.

"I feel like Key West is like Nashville was 15 years ago, with a community and venue owners who support each other," she stated.

In addition, Johns will be touring throughout the Midwest, including a stint at the Highway 30 Fest in Idaho and opening for Clay Walker at the Ellensburg Rodeo in Washington state.

Be sure to check Johns's tour schedule to see if she is playing at a venue near you, and be on the lookout for a new album in the winter of 2026.

You can follow KC Johns on her website, Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube, and all streaming services..

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Bethany Bowman is a freelance entertainment writer. You can follow her blog, Instagram, and X.