The piano in the parlor of her parents' house in coastal Maine was hers as soon as she could reach its keys. On its bench, alongside her church-soprano mother, she learned the magic of harmony. In that same room, her older brothers' records played-St [+]The piano in the parlor of her parents' house in coastal Maine was hers as soon as she could reach its keys. On its bench, alongside her church-soprano mother, she learned the magic of harmony. In that same room, her older brothers' records played-Stones, Creedence, Beatles-and in the evenings, her schoolteacher father's collection of Glenn Miller and Sarah Vaughn.It was, Jude Johnstone recalls, "...all the education I thought I'd ever need."
But she'd get more: writing songs by age ten, playing clubs while still in school, she surprised no one when, at nineteen, she headed west to continue her training in studios and nightclubs of LA, where she soon found herself collaborating with many of that city's top producers and musicians.
After her marriage (to writer/producer Charles Duncan), Johnstone rededicated herself to song writing, setting off a string of covers by such artists as Stevie Nicks, Bette Midler, Trisha Yearwood, and Johnny Cash (including the title cut of the latter's Grammy-winning album "Unchained"),as well as current recordings by Yearwood, Jennifer Warnes, and upcoming release by long-time idol Bonnie Raitt. Her collection "Coming of Age" sees contributions by several of these artists, including Yearwood, Warnes, and Raitt, as well as old friends Jackson Browne and "the legendary" Valerie Carter, and the invaluable assistance of Yearwood's producer, Garth Fundis.
Johnstone lives with her husband and their two daughters in a quiet village on California's central coast. There's a piano in the parlor that the kids are allowed to use-but they know who it belongs to.
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