Paige King Johnson Shows Heartfelt, Tender Side on New Single “Just Like You”

When she released her debut single “Water Down the Whiskey” last July, Paige King Johnson skyrocketed onto the radar of many in the country music community, and left them, us included, chomping at the bit for more new music.

As it has for most, 2020 threw a wrench into Johnson’s plans and pushed her plans for new music back. Thankfully, the beginning of October also brought the release of Johnson’s sophomore single, “Just Like You,” a song that was recorded last year that Johnson has been chomping at the bit to release.

“I’ve been so ready to release this song since we recorded it last year. This song had been extra special to me and my team from the beginning; we knew we believed in this song and wanted to it be released,” says Johnson. “It took a little longer to get everything together, with COVID and all, but I truly think now is the best time to get it out to the world. The song, the video; everything with this release is authentically me and something I feel people can really identify with.”

The song is a full 180 from “Water Down the Whiskey,” a song that Johnson says was proudly bold to release as her debut single.

“’Water Down the Whiskey’ was a very sassy, upbeat song that highlighted the bold, independent side of me as an artist. It was a great lead single and really did a lot for me, career wise,” says Johnson. “’Just Like You’ is the complete opposite; this song showcases the more heartfelt, tender side of me as an artist. It also is one of the sweetest sounding songs I’ve recorded in a while, sonically speaking. It’s more of a mid-tempo love story song that is country to its core and has been a crowd favorite at shows and among my friends for a while now.”

“Just Like You” paints a real-life love story; everyone has their flaws, but Johnson says loving someone, flaws and all, is the beauty of relationships.

“I wrote this song in April of 2019 with a dear friend of mine from college, Regan Rousseau, about the give and takes of a relationship. I think the beauty in being loved by someone is that they accept you each day for all the parts of you, good and bad. That’s when relationships work; when both people commit to loving each other a little more every day,” says Johnson. “I hoped to capture in this song each act of kindness, appreciation and altruistic behavior shown to me to highlight the fact that the simple ways of loving someone can be the most beautiful things in life to them.”

Though the song is personal to her, Johnson says she hopes listeners can put themselves in the song’s story.

“This song is my love song to him. He was the reason behind this song and the inspiration for each scenario in there, so it’s very important to me,” says Johnson. I hope that everyone who has a ‘someone’ in their life can find themselves in this story. It’s meant to be a love song for everyone!”

With her new single, Johnson hopes to continue the momentum she found with “Water Down the Whiskey,” which has brought about several humbling moments over the past year for her.

“The traction that ‘Water Down the Whiskey’ gained absolutely blew my expectations out of the water! I had hopes that it would identify with a few people who had known me for years and been following me around as I played shows, but it humbled me so much to have support from country radio DJ’s all over the United States, and fans all over the world streaming my single,” says Johnson. “To see the locations near and far of people who keep going back to listen to my song is one of the best feelings ever, and I hope it continues with this new song.”

Though 2020 hasn’t been what anyone wanted or expected, Johnson says she’s carrying a positive perspective with her for the rest of the year as she brings “Just Like You” to new people.

“Right now, I’m all in on the release of this single and the music video coming with it. Like I said, getting everything together for this has been a labor of love by myself and my team in Nashville. We have a virtual radio tour planned for this single, as well as some appearances on livestreaming events and such coming up that I’m excited about,” says Johnson. “2020 has taught me to celebrate every tiny victory, so I plan on spending the rest of this year making sunshine out of finally getting this song out to the world!”