Cedarville Magazine Spring-Summer

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Former OneVoice Singer Flourishes on The Voice
It sprouted in middle school, found
nurture in youth group, bloomed at
Cedarville, and was on glorious display this
spring. Cedarville graduate Brian Johnson’s
amazing musical gift came to fruition before
a national television audience.
Johnson ’12 was one of 20 remaining
artists for live performances on season eight
of The Voice, the NBC singing competition
featuring big-time music stars as
coaches for aspiring performers. He
made it to the top 12 before his time
on the show ended April 14.
None of this would likely have
happened had Johnson’s love of
music not been nurtured in youth
group and encouraged at Cedarville
University. He was bullied as a preteen
and teenager. In particular, peers put
him down after a middle school show
choir performance where he was the
only boy among 20 girls.
“After that I decided no more
music,” Johnson shared. “I’mnot going
to do that. I’m going to be quiet and
make my way through high school.
Music would not be a part of my life, except
behind closed doors.”
But then he got involved with a youth
group at Park Heights Baptist Church in
Brook Park, Ohio, near Cleveland. “That’s
where a lot of my insecurities fell away,”
Johnson said. “In youth group, people
thought it was cool that I could sing. And I
began to think, ‘I do want to pursue music.’”
He formed a band with another youth group
kid, Jared Mittelo ’12. He also met his wife,
Kellie (Dunger) Johnson ’12, there. They all
decided to attend Cedarville.
“Cedarville is such a unique campus,”
Johnson said. “The cool kids are the kids
who do music. The first time I led in chapel,
I got messages from folks on Facebook I’d
never met, juniors and seniors on campus.
They were complimenting my voice and my
leadership on stage. Then I went full force
into music. If anybody would give me a
microphone, I would sing. Cedarville is such
a great place for that.”
Johnson ended up singingwithOneVoice
Gospel Choir, Jubilate, during interruptions
in The Hive, in chapel, and with the Jazz
Band. He took classes toward a Bachelor of
Arts in worship degree. But then something
beyond bullying made him take a different
turn. His dad, Don, was diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis.
“I decided music was such a gamble,”
Johnson related. “I wanted to be able to help
my dad, which meant putting my dreams of
moving to Nashville on hold. For the
moment, God was tellingme tomove
back home and be with my family.”
He ended up loving the
communications program at
Cedarville, too, and earned a
bachelor’s degree in organizational
communication. With his jump to
the live rounds, Johnson committed
to a full-time music career.
“Connections are already
happening,” he said, noting he visited
Nashville during breaks in filming the
show and began meeting with song
writers. “That’s the kind of stuff I’m
hoping to do from here on out.”
“There’s been a disconnect
between pop culture music and Christian
radio,” Johnson added. “I want to be able to
fuse the two, to have a positive message with
really goodmusic.” And for a guy whose gifts
are really starting to blossom, that sounds like
a plan worth cultivating.
Campus News