Coal City native performs on SiriusXM radio
By Jeanne Millsap Correspondent December 7, 2012 1:20PM
Johnny Edward
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What: Chicago singer/songwriter/guitarist Johnny Edward, originally from Coal City, will perform an acoustic concert
When: 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. Thursday
Where: Satellite radio SiriusXM’s The Coffee House station, Channel 31
Updated: January 10, 2013 6:27AM
Coal City native Johnny Edward received an interesting query recently on his website. It was from the satellite radio station SiriusXM asking if it could play one of his songs, “The Race,” on rotation for a couple of weeks.
For the nascent songwriter/guitarist Edward, it was a total surprise and a major recognition on a whole new level.
“That’s crazy for me,” Edward said. “It felt like a giant leap. It was a huge surprise, too, especially since that song has been out for a year. People have told me that’s their favorite song, though.”
“The Race,” from Edward’s album “Perfect Sense to Me” did run its two weeks on SiriusXM’s The Coffee House station, Channel 31, and a lot more. In fact, it’s still playing.
And not only that, but the song impressed the station managers and was so well-received by the listening audience that the station flew him to SiriusXM headquarters at the Rockefeller Center in New York City, where he recorded five of his songs in an acoustic session at their studio for a special airing on Thursday.
“They had a studio set up for me with a sound engineer,” Edward said. “I played five songs — a Beatles cover song and four original ones. … I’d never done anything like that before. To go to New York City for my music was so crazy. It was such a success for me.”
The songs Edward recorded at the studio were his version of “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” originally recorded by the Beatles, and four songs he had written himself — “The Race,” “See You Around,” “The Closest Thing to Heaven” and “Need to be Loved.”
His first album was released more than a year ago, and he’s working on his second right now.
He lives in Chicago, working during the day as a creative writer at an advertising agency and writing and recording in his off hours. Music was part of his life from an early age.
Growing up in Coal City, he loved watching his father’s band play.
“I was captivated by it,” he said. “They were like superheroes to me. I was just drawn to that … I knew pretty early on that I wanted to go into music.”
Edward began writing songs when he was young and picked up the guitar after high school. It was only when he had trouble finding a singer for his first album that he broke his tentativeness of singing and recorded using his own voice. He now sings on all his tracks.
In addition to recording, Edward has performed at The Metro, Rocket Bar and several other Chicago venues. His music is available on iTunes and on AmazonMP3, and “The Race” can be seen on YouTube.
