[1] She sang at a church and started playing the piano at the age of five, learning from her pastor's wife, Evangeline Thiessen.

[2] Her parents played country music records by Jim Reeves and Don Williams at home and as she got older, her musical interests diversified as she listened to artists like ABBA, Charley Pride, Fleetwood Mac and Marty Stuart among others.

The family later moved to Westlock, Alberta and Johnson attended RF Staples High School there.

She kept up her piano lessons largely in part due to Thiessan sending books and encouraging letters to her.

[2] During her college years, she frequently sat-in with local bands at night and encouragement from them caused her to think that maybe she could have a career in the music industry.

In 1997, Johnson moved permanently to Nashville after obtaining a work visa and later that year, she signed with Patrick Joseph Music as a songwriter.

[1] Her songwriting demos captured the attention of many record label executives and some of the songs she wrote were recorded by Patty Loveless, Suzy Bogguss, Kathy Mattea, Mindy McCready, Jo Dee Messina, Linda Davis and Chely Wright.

Johnson's breakthrough as a songwriter came in 1999 when "Single White Female", a song she co-wrote with Shaye Smith and recorded by Wright, became a number one hit on country radio.

Johnson toured with McBride for over a year and during this time she was also hard at work writing songs for her debut album.

[4] In 2001, Johnson went on the Girls Night Out Tour opening for high-profile stars Sara Evans, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire and Jamie O'Neal.

[8] It became Arista Nashville's highest debuting album by a new artist since SoundScan was used to track record sales.

Love & Negotiation was eventually released in the United States digitally through Dancing Lily Music on October 13, 2009, with different artwork.

The single, "Let Me Introduce Myself", is included on her fourth studio album, Love Rules, which was released digitally in the United States on July 21, 2010, and in Canada on August 10, 2010, via Dancing Lily Music.

'Love Rules' was nominated for Country Album of the Year at the 2011 Juno Awards[18] Johnson married Matt Fisher in 2003: they divorced in 2019.