Issue No. 2

GhettoSongbird

"It was like Woodstock in my house". That's how Ghetto SongBird remembers her childhood. "There were always musicians jamming on their guitars, singing or listening to records". Her earliest musical memory is shaking her tail feather with her mom to the Bar-Kays (her mother's main man at the time was their guitarist).

Also in the house was Samantha, perhaps five years old, up in her room hearing these sounds waft upstairs. P-Funk, Sabbath, Zeppelin, Bar-Kays, etc, all floated through her door, inviting her to pick up an air guitar or sneak downstairs to get a better listen.

She was born on the "Planet Philadelphia" to a "hippie mother and conservative dad". She moved around a lot, spending time in Atlanta and Baltimore before she was 12, but permanently rooted in north Philly.

Her mother bought her a keyboard, which she taught herself to play, but it was the guitar that called to her. Four years ago the songbird bought an acoustic guitar at a pawnshop; soon after she graduated to electric - a black Epiphone guitar to be precise. It was at that time she re-christened herself Ghetto SongBird, a name becoming more and more familiar amongst the musically hip in Philadelphia today.

Her first gig was playing behind poet Terrell Brooks. At that time she only knew basic chords and how to distort them, but it was his belief in her that fueled her passion for performance. Shortly after that, she cruised to LA and jammed with her mentor, Hendrix alum Rosa Lee Brooks.
"That's when I fell in love with my guitar and now my guitars are my babies."

"Don't Explain" by Billie Holiday was the first record Johnson ever bought.
"I loved the way that woman could sing the blues," she remembers. "She, to me, was Rock and Roll".

A natural performer since she was five (her career began as a Christmas elf), GSB grew up performing at talent shows and dancing at local hip-hop shows.
"When I left college in 1996, I knew at that point I wanted to perform professionally, took a walk with faith and never looked back".

She feels her message and mission are far more important than just fame and fortune:
"I want to flame heat under the frozen minds. I want to travel to places unknown and untouched by ghetto life near and far with my music. I want to enlighten all people who are meant to receive what I convey, in other words not everyone will receive me. Feel me? I also want to create foundations to build atmospheres of education and to raise people up out of ignorance. I want to establish my own record/entertainment company where artists can have freedom of expression. I want my music to be a door [through which] to make a positive difference in the world.

"Music chose me way before I understood its hold on me. It's like the blood that runs through my veins. I need it to survive and to survive I need to serve a purpose; in order to serve my purpose I have to sacrifice a lot to keep pursuing my true destiny. I believe music is my gift from God that is a vessel to serve his will through me and that will take me to every corner of the earth…"

At the tender age of 12, Johnson was already committed to crossing cultures and melting boundaries.
"I was raised around many vibes of people in multi-cultural communities before we settled in North Philly. My mom and dad's influence rubbed off on me. My dad was stern and political, into jazz, country, folk, and classical. My mom was the rockin' and funky caring nurse, and I can't forget grandma singing those gospel spirituals in her beautiful alto tone. They raised me as a liberated thinker, a strong warrior, free spirit and a lover of all cultures."

GSB is at no loss for inspiration these days.
"I am inspired by everything that surrounds me outside of my window like gunshots, the sound of sirens, drug dealers on the corner, that same songbird that's been singing on my window pane ever since I was a child, politics on the news like, inside my soul like spirituality, love heartaches, smelling the roses in love, and once I have gathered all my instructions from my higher power, I sit on my bed with candles, incense and my lava lamp strumming as the words create themselves. I don't write anything down until it's all written in my head, then I write it on the first thing I can find. After I write the words I record the rhythm guitar on my 4-track and build the vocals and music around it. I would rather free style than rehearse. The best comes out of what I call artistic mistakes that sound off yet good.

"I'm weird like that," she smiles.

Her look is as important to her as her sound, but considers both to be accurate manifestations of her inner self. On any given night you can catch Ghetto Songbird on stage, rockin' her 'fro hawk, clad in feathers, leather, beads and baubles, Christmas lights adorning her mike and flames caressing her axe.
"My look evolves with my music."

Although life in the world of Ghetto SongBird is very unpredictable, she has some clear goals she has set for herself.
"I want to go into the studio and finally record a full length CD and take it on the road from the north, south, east to west. I want to form a band to perform with. So let me put that out into the universe. I would love to do some collaboration with some of my favorite local artists. I want to volunteer my time and artistry in some schools. But for me life is all about being fearless and living in the moment of each day."

Keep up to date with Ghetto Songbird by subscribing to the MagnaPhone mailing list where she diligently posts all her gigs. You can read more about her in the July 2004 edition of Naturally You! Magazine. Whatver you do, you must catch her live.