BY KEELIN EVERLY-LANG for WEEKLY VOLCANO 10/10/25 |
Tacoma’s own Stephanie Anne Johnson is bringing a joyful groove back to the city that raised them for an album release show at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 18. The show will take place at the Tacoma Armory, located at 1001 Yakima Ave. in Tacoma, and will include songs from the soon-to-be-released album Sing, Baby! coming out on October 17.
Johnson, who uses they/them pronouns, grew up in Tacoma and was inspired by a family and community full of music. Before they were a finalist on The Voice in 2013, they were a high schooler taking their guitar down to Point Defiance, sitting in the grass, and playing music. Before they opened for artists such as the Indigo Girls, Macy Gray, Mavis Staples, Taj Mahal, Robert Cray, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Steve Earle, Shemekia Copeland, Ruthie Foster, Mason Jennings, Durand Jones, Cedric Burnside, and even Bernie Sanders at the Tacoma Dome, Johnson was studying classical vocals and soaking up a tapestry of beautiful music from their family, community, and education.
No matter where or when the performance, Johnson said every one is an opportunity to bring people together. Playing in Tacoma, that can mean bringing together people in the crowd from their “recent, if not distant past.” At one show in town, they had their high school drama and photography teachers in the audience—and their college German professor too. The question they ask themselves is, “How can I use the music that I make, that I really enjoy making, to bring people together in these times when it’s so easy for us to be so separate?”
Johnson has expressed pain and heartbreak through their music before, such as in their song “American Blues,” which they wrote after witnessing racism during an all-Black performance at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2017. These days, though, Johnson is using their talent and their voice to fight against hatred in a different way. “The people that are shouting about their fascism and about taking away other people’s rights are loud enough, so those of us that are loving and inclusive, I feel like we have to be just as loud,” Johnson said.
This message is expressed in their upcoming album Sing, Baby! and also in their role as the host of Groovetown every Saturday afternoon on KNKX. In all of these roles, they shared that “I try to imagine myself talking to one person at a time.” They focus on imagining sharing kindness, joy, history, and other messages through the music with just that one individual in the audience.
Similarly, when playing live music, Johnson said, “I try to play music in such a way that even if the band starts and we don’t start with a big crowd, we start really enjoying ourselves and really let that draw people toward us. So it’s really about tenderness, one person at a time, kindness, one person at a time.”
Outside of music, Johnson said, “I really encourage people to pick one thing that matters to you and get involved. Because if we’re going to move this city, this state, this country, it’s going to have to happen one person at a time, and it’s going to have to happen with everybody putting in their little piece of work. So please pick one thing and be involved.”
Johnson has been sharing that joy in many ways and spaces throughout the summer, opening for Taj Mahal, Steve Earle, Macy Gray, Shemekia Copeland, and Ruthie Foster, to name a few. During Johnson’s current tour, they are performing with various members of a pool of musicians who all have a variety of other engagements going on. “I’m in an incredible group of traveling and touring musicians—and I really, I’m so grateful. I couldn’t be more grateful if I tried,” Johnson said.
Supporting other musicians and advocating for the next generation are important to Johnson. Through their business, Stephanie Anne Johnson LLC, they have put $20,000 in the hands of musicians. They also shared that they are a “firm believer in public education” and “really think that if people want to have robust music scenes, they’ve got to have robust music programs in school.”
Music education in District 10 in Tacoma had a huge impact on Johnson, who said to the next generation: “To say to all of you student musicians out there that are doing your best—you’re putting the foundation into your dreams right now with the work that you’re doing, and I am so proud of you.”
To get a taste of their music before the show, potential audience members can check out their in-studio session from April 2023 on YouTube at https://youtu.be/GNaaKnKEa9Q and then purchase tickets at TacomaArtsLive.org/events/stephanie-anne-johnson.
Stephanie Anne Johnson, Tacoma Armory, 7:30 p.m. October 18.
