Meet Joanna Borne

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joanna Borne.

Hi Joanna, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in a small town in Saskatchewan. I learned guitar from my dad and piano from my mom. I started writing at 13. I would just write for hours on the piano or guitar in my parent’s basement as I grew up. I charted in Canadian country radio when I was still in Canada, but was always drawn to creating what I’m putting out now and rebranded before I made the move to nashville. I was used to my life on the acreage, nothing prepared me for moving to a large city in a whole other country by myself. I moved to Nashville on my own 7 years ago.

I wandered around for years getting to know different people and starting my new life. After years, I found a team of creatives that have created the music that is out today. I have been working as a nurse in inpatient psych facilities for years and still work there. Lots of people ask me why I chose that field and I just keep coming back to the fact that I have a passion for mental health and trauma, and helping people through these kinds of crises. No matter how dangerous the job may be, it’s a rewarding and fulfilling job and that’s worth it to me. The life experience I have gotten from working in inpatient psych for the past 7 years has certainly changed the way I write as a songwriter and how I am in general as a person. It can be a very difficult job, and draining, but I just try to keep a light on in a dark place and make positive changes where I can.

I continue to balance my 2 careers doing music and inpatient psych nursing, it’s a lot of work, but it’s made my work ethic strong which comes in handy. I have worked tons of overtime to get all of my songs done the way I want them done. I have been fortunate to work with so many writers, producers, mixing engineers, mastering engineers, etc. who have been on board with my vision for these songs, I am grateful.

This is a little random, but my family had a wolf when I was growing up. A family friend, Sky Pheonix, also has a wolf sanctuary close to where I grew up. We would visit there sometimes, it’s a wolf sanctuary called ” A Wolf Adventure” I had gone there a few winters ago to get photos and videos with her arctic wolf “Halo” for my song “Wolves” (which is getting mixed right now, not out yet), but I posted these videos with Halo, the arctic wolf on Tik Tok and Instagram, and that has attained a ton of my following on social media. It’s kind of funny now I think the algorithm thinks I am a wolf page, but that was just a chapter, me getting some photos for some album art, I am still trying to teach my social media platforms that I am an artist, not a full-time wolf girl.

As of July 21st, my favorite song came out called “Moolah-la” and I am very excited about this release, personally it’s my favorite song we have done.

I sacrifice a ton to pursue what I want to do in life, but I won’t sacrifice my morals. That is what Moolah-la is about. It’s no secret that power is commonly misused in a ton of industries out there, especially the music industry. As a young woman who moved to Nashville not knowing a soul in the USA, I came across a few sharks as I struggled to find my feet in music city.

I’ve been here for 7 years now, and I’ll just say I’ve been through a lot, but I’m blessed to be surrounded by a ton of great people now that I know I can trust. That just takes time. Moolah-la isn’t just about the sharks, it’s about the good people in my circle that I’m grateful for too. It’s about having one’s eyes opened to the real battle between good and evil and the decisions that lead me to where I am today, at peace, I sleep like a baby, and I’m not about to trade that for any amount of success.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has NOT been a smooth road AT ALL. Finances have been a massive struggle. I have paid for my independent artist journey myself and I paid for it from my work as a nurse. I have put everything into this.

I have held off getting the house I wanted, the car I wanted, and the clothes I wanted, I have bought cheap cars, lived with multiple roommates, and have gone thrift shopping for years, and worked numerous overtime shifts, just to jump in the studio the next day, or something for my music career. My friends and family have expressed concern for years about my lacking ability to take a day off… I am getting better about it as I have learned that not taking a day off now and then just burns me out, makes me sick then I have to take more time off.

Balancing my passion and day job has been a lot. Not to mention, 2023 has presented so many to-do’s for independent artists it can seem almost impossible to keep up with sometimes, but when it seems impossible, I just take a day to sit down think plan and strategize and remind myself “There’s always a way.” (My sister who grew up with Cerebral Palsy, and uses a walker to walk, would always stay positive, smiling and tell me that “there’s always a way” so really when stuff gets difficult, I think of her and it keeps me pushing forward).

Being far from my family certainly has been hard and finances have certainly limited the trips I have taken to Canada, I go home as much as I can but it’s still not as much as I would like. My family helps as much as they can but plane tickets are a lot for anyone right now. My family supports me doing this though, and it’s interesting and exciting to them too which makes me happy, we get by with the tickets we can get and FaceTiming a ton.

There’s been a lot of challenges I have faced and I am now going on my 8th year of being here, and I certainly have felt discouraged and exhausted, but I still feel happy doing what I am doing, I still love it. It’s exciting to me.

Life is like a video game, I am trying to see what level I can get to and that’s fun and exciting. Not going to lie, lately, it has been getting more difficult financially, mentally, and emotionally, with all the things going on in the world, but I just think of it as being at a more difficult level and all I can do is keep moving forward and see what happens.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have always been drawn to cinematic music, sync music, pop music, hip-hop and rap music, and world music. I don’t like labeling music under genres, but for the sake of explaining, if I had to name some genres, these are what my playlists are made of.

These influences and unique life experiences come together when I write from an authentic place to create something unique. It’s taken years to let myself be authentic to what I want to make, and what naturally comes from me musically, but I have finally reached that point where I am doing that. I have been blessed to work with other writers, composers, producers, etc who also have that authenticity and uniqueness. I truly believe we have created some unique projects.

I also produce music and have co-produced some of my songs including “Moolah-la” “Selfish” “Lovers” and “i don’t really wanna talk right now”. I would say a lot of these projects I have put out, have elements of cinematic sync music, pop, rap, and hip-hop depending on which song you listen to.

I am proud of the song “Moolah-la” that just came out, I wrote it with Ben Flanders, Clayton Collins, and Terrance Javier Jordan. I came into the studio frustrated with the wrong use of power in the industry and the whole song just came together pretty quickly. Ben Flanders produced it, and I co-produced it. Miles Walker mixed it and made the production elements slam which made me happy. Then Mike Bozzi mastered it and also made it slam. We’re all really happy with how it came out.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I want to give creative credit to…

*David Lehr: He has been producing music with me for over 6 years. He and I produced the releases: “Selfish” “No Drama” “Lovers” and “I don’t really wanna talk right now”. He and I have also produced many more that are not out yet but soon will be including “Hey I See You,” “Understand Me,” “Wolves,” and “Angels.” Beyond that, David and I have even more songs that are in the production phase. David Lehr has also filmed and directed my 2 music videos that are out: “Carousel” and “No Drama.”

Throughout the last 5-6 years David Lehr has also been on tour with Morgan Wallen doing photos and videos. So proud of that guy, he puts his heart and soul into everything he does and it shows with great work.

Ben Flanders: He has been producing with me for 5 years. He produced the releases “Carousel” “Moolah-la” and “My Friend.” We also have a few others in the making! He’s so much fun to work with I always look forward to going into the studio with Ben.

Magnus Skylstad – Mix Engineer – “Selfish” (I always loved the work he has done with AURORA and I knew he had a special ear for making a production feel magical. I asked him if he would mix the song “Selfish” and I was ecstatic when he agreed to do it. I loved what he did with the song).

Miles Walker – Mix Engineer – “Carousel” “Moolah-la” “My Friend”.

John Greenham – Mastering Engineer – Mastered “Carousel” “My Friend” “No Drama” “Selfish” “Lovers” and “I don’t really wanna talk right now”

Mike Bozzi – Mastering Engineer- Mastered: “Moolah-la”.

Christina Bourne – Photographer – photographer and editor of the album art for “Moolah-la” Christina is a talented Photographer in Saskatoon Saskatchewan, she is my cousin too, but more like a sister. I was so grateful that she did the album art for “Moolah-la” (1st photo I am attaching “personal photo”).

Oliver Richetti: part of the crew for the “Moolah-la” music video. Photographer. Captured the photo of me on the couch with the 2 guards behind me (attached).

Music Video For Moolah-la:

Director: Alex Ayala
Filmed by: Greenlight Cameras

The Music Video was such an amazing experience, I was so fortunate to have such an amazing crew come through for the video along with over 20 people who showed up to act in the video. I am so excited to release it. My next chapter of releases is going to be headed toward the more cinematic sounds that David Lehr and I have created.

We are currently in the mixing phase of these songs.

Sean Moffitt – Mix Engineer – of the songs not yet released: “Hey I See You” “Understand Me” “Wolves” and “Angels” (Sean is so great to work with. Such a great mixing experience. I love the mixes he has done with these songs and I can’t wait to release them).

Mentor Credits:

Logan Crowell: Founder of H.O.M.E (Helping Our Music Evolve) – Logan has been such a great mentor for me for over 5 years now. I joined “H.O.M.E” as a member over 5 years ago now and Logan has gone above and beyond in advising me through my development as an artist and now in the areas of releasing and marketing. I would be so incredibly lost without Logan, all the staff at H.O.M.E, and the community I have been fortunate to be a part of at H.O.M.E.

Vian Izak – is such an amazing artist. He has been a great mentor for me within the release and marketing of “Moolah-la”

Weston Mayes has also been a great mentor. He helped a lot during my Carousel music video and has helped numerous times with my live shows. He has been a great person to talk through ideas with and overall a great mentor.

Rachel Greenberg: has been a great inspiration to me and a great mentor for branding. She is a great co-writer and co-wrote selfish with David and I. She had also photographed the album art for Selfish, she had this idea in her head that it would be cool to mirror me looking at myself, we found a dark area to shoot the photo within “H.O.M.E” then she and David Lehr edited it, it’s one of my favorite album arts.

Tommy Dorsey, has been a great co-writer and mentor for my creativity. I struggle a lot with perfectionism and anxiety levels can get high as I go through the finishing stages of a song, he has had a ton of great advice on how to navigate that process.

Vinnie Alibrandi, he’s been a great mentor in navigating the creative process. It’s easy to get caught up in the details of a song and sometimes I have found myself so caught up in details that I start losing creativity, he has helped me with insight on how to bring that creativity back when it feels like it’s slipping away. He was kind enough to star in the music video for “Moolah-la” as the main bad dude and he did such a great job.

Chris Waters -SE Director Promotion & Marketing at Valory Music Co. He’s been a great mentor in navigating the bridge between social media and radio, as well as many other areas of marketing.

Jenn Littleton – I met Jenn this year, and I am so glad I met her. She has been so wonderful in helping me with planning the “Moolah-la” music video, content creation, social media strategies, and the ins and outs of marketing for my latest release “Moolah-la.” I look forward to learning all the stuff I have yet to learn from her.

Contact Info:

• Website: JoannaBorne.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/joannabornemusic
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7paAu6oaMU5RYrGIoep56O?si=omBexjUhRM69grxLRhNkBQ
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/joannaborne
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JoannaBorne
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@joannaborne?lang=en

Image Credits
Christina Bourne (My Boots Photography), Saskatoon Saskatchewan Image, Oliver Richetti, and David Lehr