Jillette Johnson

Jillette Johnson (born June 3, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter and musician from New York City. Johnson signed with Wind-up Records in 2012 and is registered with the Performance Rights Organisation (PRO) BMI. Her debut album with Wind-up, Water in a Whale, was released on June 25, 2013. Johnson has garnered comparisons to Fiona Apple and Adele.

Jillette grew up in New York City and started playing piano and writing music before the age of 10. She started playing live venues in NYC at the age of 12. Jillette auditioned for The Voice on NBC but turned down the offer to appear on the show so she could focus all of her effort toward her career and her music.

Jillette released her debut EP, Whiskey & Frosting, on August 14, 2012 on Wind-up Records. The EP contains five tracks that were written by Jillette in her apartment over the previous year, and she claims that the track "When The Ship Goes Down" is the best track she has ever written. Her debut album with Wind-up, Water in a Whale, was released June 25, 2013. The title is a line from the lyrics of "True North" ("And it would only be like water in a whale/I could release it to the ocean with a mighty sound.") The album consists of the five tracks from the preview EP plus eight new tracks and a new version of "Cameron". It was produced by Peter Zizzo and Michael Mangini.

Track list

1. Torpedo*
2. Cameron*
3. Flood The Ocean
4. When The Ship Goes Down*
5. Last Bus Out
6. Pauvre Coeur*
7. Peter Pan
8. Basset Hound
9. Butterfly Catcher
10. Heathen*
11. True North
12. Cameron (stripped)
13. 17 (B-side)
14. Box of Crayons (B-side)

*Previewed on Whiskey & Frosting (EP)

Jillette Johnson experienced a “heartbreaking, confusing” attempt of sexual abuse when she was 16 years old. According to her own account, at the time, a 45-year-old producer gave her whiskey and tried to take advantage of her.

In an interview with Aimee Curran of Baeble Music, Johnson performed a new song, Disaster Game. She often includes new, unreleased songs in her live show.

Johnson supports the anti-bullying campaign, Hey U.G.L.Y (Hey, unique, gifted, lovable you) via the Pledge Music site.