In the old western movies the hero rode from town to town, facing trouble, helping people in need, and giving them a new start. That’s the story of my life. They used a pistol, I use a pencil. They used a lasso, I use a laptop. They used a guitar, I use…well, a guitar. Helping folks in need of creativity.

            And remember the Indians in those movies? Well, they weren’t really like that. Being Indian means loving community. Putting the people above the self. Honoring our Creator in everything. Adapting, and making a good life from practically nothing.

            So that’s my story: cowboys and Indians.

            I sold my very first oil painting, and played music and created advertising professionally, all in my teens. So when people ask me what I do for a living, I say I do the same thing I did when I was a kid: draw pictures, write stories, and make music. Sometimes for the sake of art. Sometimes for the sake of business.

            I earned a couple of degrees at Oklahoma State University, then did some post-graduate study at Ohio U. One of the best things I’ve learned is that learning is a lifelong adventure.     

            People are always interested to know that I invented McDonald’s now-famous Happy Meal. In fact, I became a new product specialist and had a great career in advertising. But now I’m very selective about what I advertise. No hamburgers or tacos. I stick to more helpful, healthy things.

            I came to Nashville to make music. My songs are on hit albums, in movies, and on TV. My Gospel songs are changing lives for the better, thanks to some terrific artists. And as a producer I’ve been able to work and play with some of America’s best musicians, singers, and songwriters.

            My artwork hangs in collections in five countries. I’ve illustrated books, designed music albums, created logos, and even designed a Volkswagen painted to look like an airplane. That was funny.

            I’ve been a college teacher and found that I love the students more than the institutions.

            Now I teach about communication and public speaking. About our responsibility to care for creation, and especially how that relates to Christianity. About Native American culture and spirituality. About cowboy culture.

            I spend as much time as possible outdoors, hiking, camping, and being. Half the time I live in a solar-powered log cabin that I remodeled in the woods of Tennessee.

            Tulsa was a great place to grow up. I’m proud to be from the heartland, and to have learned to live and love from a pre-Colonial Irish-Scotch-French-Swiss-Native American family. My ancestors fought wars in the hope that there would be no more wars. My sons and my dogs are all better people than I am. In my lifetime everything has changed, except the things that matter most. I continue to change too, except for the things that matter most.    

            It’s important to say that I’m not the source of any of this creativity. I’m a channel through which the Creator creates, decades old, and always new.

            It’s a lot of fun. 

-          Joe Johnston