James Johnston - RAISED LIKE THAT (2023)

“RAISED LIKE THAT is all about the way I was born and raised—the country life,” singer-songwriter James Johnston tells Apple Music. “It’s the place, the people, the morals, the values, all that stuff I grew up on. That is the through line in all these songs.” Born in the rural New South Wales town of Wingham, Johnston was raised on a diet of country artists such as Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings. It wasn’t only their music that made an impression, with the singer also adopting their eye for lyrical detail—witness his observations around the potholes that still need fixing in “SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE” or the “scratched-up burnt CDs” he listened to in “WE GREW UP ON.”

Adding a Keith Urban-esque dash of pop rock to his country DNA, Johnston whittled the 20 songs that comprise his debut album down from around 300, each a story drawn from the pages of his life. “I think you’ll get to know me a little better after listening to this record,” he offers. Here, Johnston walks Apple Music through some key moments from RAISED LIKE THAT.