Jennifer Johnson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Jennifer Johnson<\/strong> never intended to have a career in the music industry. President of Riser House Entertainment, Johnson spent several years as an analytical chemist working at a chemical plant. After her childhood home burned to the ground, she started working at age nine for her uncle, who owned a machine shop in Louisiana. For a time following the fire, she lived in her family\u2019s tractor shed with a dirt floor and no running water.<\/p>\n Johnson was interested in music initially as a songwriter and quickly learned she had a greater love of music publishing. She finally made the move to Nashville to work as an independent song plugger.<\/p>\n In 2008, Johnson launched the publishing company, The Song Factory. The first artist-writer she signed was Jon Pardi.<\/strong> Dustin Lynch, Ashley McBryde<\/strong> and Dillon Carmichael<\/strong> followed.<\/p>\n Riser House Entertainment was launched in 2017 by co-founders Matt Swanson, Mitchell Tenpenny<\/strong> and Johnson with the goal to create music that stands the test of time. Since its formation, the company has blossomed into a full-service record label, management and publishing house. Riser House Entertainment has amassed more than four billion combined on-demand streams, 11 No. 1 songs, and participated in over 20 RIAA-certified Gold or Platinum singles and albums.<\/p>\n Riser House\u2019s roster includes Tenpenny, Carmichael, Meghan Patrick, LANCO<\/strong>\u00a0and Stephen Day<\/strong>. Both Tenpenny and Carmichael are also signed to the company\u2019s publishing umbrella, alongside Michael Whitworth, Dallas Wilson, Klare Essad<\/strong> and Chandler Baldwin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Photo: Courtesy of Johnson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n MusicRow:<\/em> Where did you grow up?<\/strong><\/p>\n I grew up in Rayville, Louisiana. It\u2019s a tiny town with just one stoplight. Funny enough, it was only one town over from where Lainey Wilson<\/strong> grew up. My dad was a bricklayer and my mom was a dietician.<\/p>\n When I was about nine, our house burned down. After that, we moved into a tractor shed with a dirt floor, an outhouse in the woods\u2014my dad would build fires outside for heat. My family never really recovered financially, so I started working in my uncle\u2019s machine shop at nine years old.<\/p>\n I ended up starting college at 16 and graduated with a chemistry degree, minoring in math and physics.<\/p>\n Wow. Tell me about that.<\/strong><\/p>\n I worked as an analytical chemist at a small chemical plant in Louisiana called Angus, which was a subsidiary of Dow. I thought I was headed toward medical school, but once I got married and started having kids, I realized the medical field wouldn\u2019t allow me the time I wanted with my family. So I stayed home, still did some chemistry work, and that\u2019s when I started writing songs.<\/p>\n I joined a local Country Music Showdown, got connected with the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) in New Orleans, and met songwriter Jim McCormick<\/strong>. He sent me a pitch sheet listing artists like George Strait<\/strong> and Keith Urban<\/strong> who were looking for songs.<\/p>\n Photo: Courtesy of Johnson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n So I cold-called every single record label on that sheet, asking for meetings to pitch songs from the writers I\u2019d met. Shockingly, I got meetings with everyone I called.<\/p>\n And then you were in the music business!<\/strong><\/p>\n Through Jim, I got more pitch sheets and started calling every producer and label listed. Rusty Gaston<\/strong> was running a publishing company called The Song Garden then, and when I brought him songs, he told me, \u201cIf you have all these meetings, don\u2019t just bring good songs. Bring great ones. First impressions matter.\u201d<\/p>\n So I called every songwriter I knew and ended up with hundreds of songs. I listened to each one\u2014just verse and chorus\u2014and narrowed it down to eight songs on a single CD.<\/p>\n My first big meeting was at Capitol Records with Larry Willoughby<\/strong>. He actually put several songs on hold, and I didn\u2019t even know what a \u201chold\u201d was at the time. I just knew I needed my CD back because I had nine more meetings that week! [Laughs]<\/p>\n But that\u2019s how it started. I wasn\u2019t officially a publisher yet\u2014I was just representing other catalogs and pitching songs independently.<\/p>\n Photo: Courtesy of Johnson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n How did you become a publisher, officially?<\/strong><\/p>\n Eventually, I met this guy from Arkansas who had written with a new songwriter in town, a kid from California named Jon Pardi<\/strong>. He came to my office, stomped his boots on the floor, played me his songs, and I thought, \u201cThis guy is a force.\u201d<\/p>\n I told him, \u201cI\u2019m starting a publishing company. Want to be my first writer?\u201d He said yes, and he even named the company: The Song Factory. That was the official start of my career as a music publisher.<\/p>\n Because I had been representing hit writers for a while, I was able to connect him with the right co-writers. That only amplified what he was already doing and helped him write even more songs in a shorter amount of time.<\/p>\n Tell me about building The Song Factory.<\/strong><\/p>\n I started signing writers like Bart Butler<\/strong>, who was writing with Jon. Bart later became Jon\u2019s producer for several albums. We were also working with early-career artists like Ashley McBryde<\/strong> and Dustin Lynch<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Photo: Courtesy of Johnson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Soon you started Riser House Entertainment.<\/strong><\/p>\n Someone brought me a CD of this artist with a voice unlike anything I\u2019d ever heard. It was Mitchell Tenpenny<\/strong>. At first, he wasn\u2019t sure if he was really an artist, he thought of himself more as a songwriter. Once I heard him, I said, \u201cOh no, you are absolutely an artist.\u201d<\/p>\n Mitchell introduced me to Matt Swanson<\/strong>, a gentleman from California who had believed in him from the start. Matt was in agriculture\u2014totally down to earth\u2014and when we met, I knew he wasn\u2019t in this just to make a buck. He was passionate, like this was a calling.<\/p>\n Together, we launched Riser House almost 10 years ago. We started with publishing\u2014our first writer was Michael Whitworth<\/strong>, then Dallas Wilson<\/strong>, who now has hits with Lainey Wilson and Dylan Scott<\/strong>. We also secured publishing with Mitchell himself.<\/p>\n At the very beginning, it was just me, Jason Van Auken<\/strong>, and three interns. Those interns have since gone on to do incredible things in the music industry, which has been so rewarding to watch. It\u2019s not just the artists whose careers we\u2019ve been able to help build\u2014it\u2019s the young people behind the scenes too.<\/p>\n Photo: Courtesy of Johnson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n You guys have really scaled your business in the last few years. What do you see for the company in the next five or 10?<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019re a boutique music company, and that\u2019s intentional. We\u2019re not chasing market share or algorithms or trends. Of course, we want to be a successful business\u2014but our passion starts with the music. We want to help artists achieve whatever their goals are: Grammys, sold-out arenas, stadium tours or simply leaving a positive mark on the culture. I think if we stay committed to that, we will be successful.<\/p>\n What is your favorite part of your job now?<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh gosh\u2014there\u2019s so much. I\u2019ve had to learn everything from radio to record promotion, which was brand new for me coming from publishing. Watching the whole journey\u2014from working with songwriters early on, to seeing artists record albums, get record deals, build fan bases, go on tour, form brand partnerships, and eventually sell out arenas\u2014it\u2019s been unbelievable.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve learned that you can want it so badly for an artist, you can make all these brilliant plans, but at the end of the day, sometimes you\u2019re simply part of a bigger journey. I truly believe God places you there, and if you\u2019re fortunate enough to play even a small role, that\u2019s a gift. My job is to be the best steward of that journey I can be.<\/p>\n Photo: Courtesy of Johnson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Is there anything from your chemistry background that you bring into what you do now?<\/strong><\/p>\n In a philosophical sense, yes. There\u2019s an alchemy to the music business\u2014to how people work together. Watching writers like Dallas Wilson, Lainey Wilson, and Trannie Anderson<\/strong> come together was pure magic. Sometimes your role is just to help artists and writers find each other and create that spark.<\/p>\n Do you have any mentors who have helped you along the way?<\/strong><\/p>\n Absolutely. My first mentor was Joe Boyland<\/strong>, who brokered catalogs and taught me everything about publishing on the backend like royalties, contracts, deals. That knowledge gave me the confidence to start my own company.<\/p>\n I never studied music business formally, so Joe was my crash course in the business side of the industry. He also taught me to be fair and keep my word no matter what.<\/p>\n There have been so many others I could call for advice over the years\u2014Jon Loba, Scott Borchetta, Bill Mayne<\/strong>. I\u2019ve been fortunate to have people willing to give their time and guidance.<\/p>\n Photo: Courtesy of Johnson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n What\u2019s a moment your younger self would find surreal?<\/strong><\/p>\n Growing up in Louisiana, things were hard. We could have never afforded concert tickets. People worked long, blue-collar hours and talked about artists like Garth Brooks, but most never got to see a show.<\/p>\n Now, I get to experience music from the inside\u2014whether it\u2019s hearing a brand-new song in the writing room, watching Jon Pardi sell out his first arena, seeing Mitchell Tenpenny play to a crowd singing every word, or celebrating when our writers are nominated for Grammys.<\/p>\n I always remind myself: I have a ticket now. I\u2019m not on the outside hearing about the show on Monday morning. I\u2019m part of it, and I thank God for that every day.<\/p>\n What advice would you give someone who\u2019s in a completely different career but wants to break into the music business?<\/strong><\/p>\n Sometimes it\u2019s a calling. You don\u2019t have to know everything\u2014or anything, really. If you feel that excitement, that passion, lean in and follow the joy. Jump in. The rest will come.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/musicrow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/JenniferJohnsonHeadshot-copy.jpg\")
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