The Johnson children have accomplished more than your average kids; they've toured around North America singing the gospel, recorded CDs, and now their most recent album, Big Day Radio Show, has been nominated for the Gospel Music Association's Best Children's CD of the Year 2010.
“It was really exciting when Dad brought the computer on the table after we ate,” explained 12-year-old Matthias about the nomination announcement. “We watched a live feed and it was really cool that they... said our name.”
The premise behind the album is a radio show, with brothers Matthias and Micah narrating between songs. Matthias also reads a story he wrote in segments called Wild Wyat Willoby.
“It's about a little Christian adventurer,” explains Matthias. “He wants to get a treasure, the Staff of Moses. And then he finds out that the greater treasure is in God.”
“The aim would be that the kids are worth something,” explains their father, Ben.
“They're of value,” chimes in their mother, Sandie.
“Micah sings a song called “Little Things;” it's that God is mindful of little things. He's not just worried about the big stuff, adults' worries,” explains Ben.
“He listens to the little things, not only the big things,” explains eight-year-old Micah, a message he hopes children who listen to the album will learn.
Matthias says he hopes children will learn “to give their hearts to Him.”
Five-year-old Jubilee, who sings the song “Princess Manners” on the album, was not too pleased when her photo wasn't on the front cover.
“When we first got the CD, we said ‘The new CD is here, kids. It's ready' and the boys said ‘Oh that's great,' and Jubilee went ‘Uhh,'” Ben explains, as everyone laughs.
Matthias says “it's fun” making CDs, but both boys agree it's a lot of work recording songs in the studio.
Micah needed 100 takes to get “Little Things” just right. He says he got tired of all the takes.
“It's easier when you have a script in front of you,” explains Matthias.
The CD took about a year to make.
“You can find children's CDs but a lot of times it's adults doing things for kids,” explains Ben.
“Kids like hearing kids sing or talk,” says Sandie.
Micah says his favourite part was “listening to it in the end.”
“I like putting on the headphones,” says Jubilee.
The family goes on tour during the summer, singing gospel at churches, camps and jamborees. The children have been singing and playing instruments since an early age.
A couple years ago, when the family was on tour, Sandie got laryngitis so they decided to see if Matthias could manage singing her part.
“The little stinker just grabbed the mic and started singing Sandie's harmony,” says Ben, explaining how impressed they were.
That same summer, Micah was six years old and already playing rhythm mandolin, and asking his father to teach him chords.
“We thought ‘Well boy, if they're singing that well and playing well' then we should do a CD of it,” explains Ben.
The children say they enjoy going on tour and seem to really like the family's tour bus. Ben explains how when they came home after being out on tour and pulled into their driveway, the children didn't want to get out.
“They just stayed in the bus and they slept in there and ate in there and they wouldn't even come in the house,” he says as everyone laughs.
The family plans to attend the awards show in Calgary Oct. 29 where the winner of the Gospel Music Assocation's best children's CD will be announced.
When asked if they plan to dress up, Matthias replied, “We'll try and get as nice as we possibly can,” to everyone's laughter.
“We didn't go looking for this nomination,” says Ben. “We call this God-promoted.”
He explains how they sent the CD to a distributor of CDs to bible bookstores, who turned them down. But it turned out that the distributor sent it in to Gospel Music Association, as a submission for the award.
The Johnson children's next big project is a children's hymn CD, where they will go back in time through a time machine to different eras to hear different hymns, and host mock interviews with hymn writers.
“There's such a generational gap... between adults and kids, so we thought if we can do another CD, a hymn CD, but make it really fun, then when kids go to church they'll recognize these old hymns that the seniors are singing and...hope to close that gap a little bit, if we can,” said Ben.
They hope to have the CD out next summer.
