Album Notes

"I can't just lay my heart in front of me for all to see," Hillary Johnson sings in "Quicksand," from her debut album, IS IT NORMAL. But that's exactly what this 17-year-old singer-songwriter is doing.

Born in California, Hillary began singing and playing piano at age six. By the time she was twelve, she was writing songs and performing original material at a dinner club in Westchester County, NY. Soon she met Grammy nominated producer / engineers Erik Steinert and Axel Niehaus of Stray Dog Music.

"She blew me away," they remember vividly. "We'd never seen anyone like her." They immediately got to work on Hillary's first record, expanding her piano-based eloquence with full-band arrangements.

"I didn't know to what length my music could be taken. Recording introduced me to a whole new realm of possibilities," Johnson says. "It's very exciting."

Hillary displays her remarkable songwriting ability throughout the album, from the hopeful power pop of "Beautiful Day" to the infectious "Empty Face," the gorgeous, string-laden "Superhero," the emotional first single, "Paradise," and the poignant ballad "Waiting," one of the first songs she ever wrote.

With a range of influences and a synthesis of musical genres, Hillary brings a whole new presence to the musical industry.

"I love to be at the piano, and I love to sing, but I feel most at home on stage,” she says with a wide-eyed smile.

And she's now ready to lay her heart out for the rest of the world to see.