ABOUT

Joni Wilson is an artist who has a sound and stage persona as unique and diverse as the places she has lived. Joni grew up a ‘border kid’ in the Canadian city of Windsor, where life was more innocent and simple. With the big city of (Motown) Detroit sharing the radio waves, she was exposed to the fantastic cross mix of “Canadian Rock Music,” a “Celtic East Coast” sound… and the world’s best “Soul.” This highly influenced her vocal and song writing approach at a young age and when it came time to expose it, Joni was not to be denied. Her professional career started the first time she ‘let it rip’ on stage. After stealing her Dad’s car, she crossed the border one night and entered a Motown singing contest and the 16 year old won not only the hearts of the hard core music scene, but a talent scouts backing. He immediately put her in a U.S. national touring show group where she honed her talents in “Soul” and “Rock” musical numbers in between school seasons.

 

Up to this point Joni had been a high level competing gymnast in Ontario being courted by U.S. university sports scholarships, but she quickly turned everything she learned from the sport, (focus, dance ability and performance) towards the stage and received a full music scholarship to Oakland University. “My parents almost died when I came home with a music scholarship instead of sports. My Dad was convinced I was on the road to Hell”. Too much professional work came in and after 1 year she moved back to Toronto Canada where she could make a great living as a musician while moon-lighting her developing unique original songs and sound. “I went back to Canada for the freedom of musical expression and the free healthcare. I knew I would be starving for a while and I figured that was one less expense, I was excited to be in the level of headlining, next to the likes of Shania Twain, Alannis Morrissette, The Bare Naked Ladies (whom she also bungee jumped with for charity) The Cowboy Junkies, Blue Rodeo and various other country artists… even a gig for the Prime Minister.” She even played Epinine in the Canadian national cast of  Les Misérables.

 

It was Mary Bailey, Shania’s first manager who spotted Joni’s  interesting song writing and vocal talent and convinced her Nashville is where the world’s best songwriters go.  Joni dove right in. Within one month she was in the recording studio with Rick Chudakof, producer of Smokey Robinson and Michael Bolton. Only two hundred Canadian dollars (more like 125.00 US) to her name and two small dogs, Joni drove all night to hit the city of Nashville by noon the next day. “I thought well here I am “Big Daddy” … where’s my record deal? Boy was I naïve.”  I ended up living in my car for two weeks trying to find a place to live and a job.

 

Joni’s luck happened fast with starting a band and quickly being invited to play some of the most prestigious music festivals like “River Stages” where she opened for “Bob Dylan” and the “Wall Flowers.” Song wrote and sang world wide “Pepsi” and “Tommy Hilfiger” campaigns. Co-wrote with writers like Greg Barnhill, Chas Sandford, and Keith Anderson, and caught the interest and support of music’s most powerful lawyers Joel Katz, Jess Rosen and partner Don Perry. Don Perry connected her with Edwin McCain, Match-box 20 co-producer Greg Archilla and one of the songs they recorded six months before 9/11 was ironically named “Freedom”. By 9/12 it was on the radio pushed by D.J. Rick Moreno (who had been a fan of Wilson) at “The Mix” radio station, and it quickly spread to over 120 “Pop” radio stations.”  Wilson donated all funds from the sale of “Freedom” off her website, to a New York City Fire-Fighter Families charity.

 

Joni, Don Perry, knew that it was only a matter of time that the industry would be craving Wilson’s edgy sound and they continued to record her while she kept writing, and the band gigging. In the meantime she was making herself a name as a writer with a uncanny unique sense of lyric and sound. She recently landed a cut on the hot new Keith Anderson CD “Lazy with Your Love” which has given her even more writing credibility. “Boy what a ride, the kind that makes ya a hell-uv-a songwriter eh? And I love living in the south. I still get a kick out of people teasing me when they hear my funny accent; I tell them...HEY I’M FROM THE SOUTH, IT’S JUST SOUTHERN CANADA!” 

 

This is the same off beat sense of humor encourage Joni to jump into the world of script writing, and now Wilson created a sitcom script and sound track based on her adventures living in the Southern U.S. An animated film script with sound track and Children’s book series “The Dog Rescuers,” released this year, inspired by her love for dogs and cats. It’s a forum for a longer story than what you get in a four minute song. My imaginations playground, but also a platform for pet rescues through our website.

 

Remember the name Joni Wilson  seen on CD covers, “Created By” TV show credits, and song writing credits with other artists…She’s a multi-talented, dog loving, hockey fan, who stands by two men …Wayne Gretsky and Vince Gill. She’s a fresh faced all American/Canadian girl with that glint in her eye and a gutsy trail blazing approach, so watch-out for this dual-citizen force to be reckoned with.... EH!