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North and South

Fern Johnston

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A generation ago their love story would have been forbidden, now they share a love that crosses borders, unites countries and shows how far history has come. North and South tells the true love story of a dear friend of mine. I was visiting her in Northern Ireland when she showed me a song a famous band had written for her friend’s wedding, ‘

A generation ago their love story would have been forbidden, now they share a love that crosses borders, unites countries and shows how far history has come. North and South tells the true love story of a dear friend of mine. I was visiting her in Northern Ireland when she showed me a song a famous band had written for her friend’s wedding, ‘wouldn’t it be amazing for that to happen?’ she declared. I started thinking about what a famous band would write for her wedding, were she to marry the boy she had begun to date from the South. Well… it’s a few years late for the wedding, but I’m thrilled to share their story with the world!

With a gorgeous melody and beautiful infusion of Irish fiddle and tin whistle, North and South features the vocal talents of Phil Davidson… who began his life as a Belfast boy. Dedicated to Malcolm, Judith, Robyn and Luca.

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February SINGLE

HOLLYWOOD

Fern Johnston

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Not all romances look like those we see on the silver screen. Sometimes true love looks a lot more like the best friend you never dreamed you’d marry. ‘Hollywood’ tells the story of two such best friends who eventually found that love, when built on the greater love of God, binds, heals and grows better than anything they thought they’d desired.

Not all romances look like those we see on the silver screen. Sometimes true love looks a lot more like the best friend you never dreamed you’d marry. ‘Hollywood’ tells the story of two such best friends who eventually found that love, when built on the greater love of God, binds, heals and grows better than anything they thought they’d desired. It is my own story, but maybe it is yours too?

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Welcome friend,

Do you ever feel small or insignificant?

If so, have you ever noticed how God loves to use small things?

Like a shepherd boy to defeat a giant (King David)? Or someone who was terrified of public speaking to represent a nation to a ruler (Moses)? Or a despised Tax collector to write a book of the Bible to be read by millions (Matthew)?

Or how about a Primary school teacher from NSW, Australia to record in Nashville and perform on stages across the globe?

While I love to write songs and sing them at home (I can relate to Moses discomfort above) God, it seems, has bigger dreams for me, than I have for myself.

And I’ve thought a lot about why.

We live in a time when we are bombarded with the message that we are worthy, we are special and we are enough.

We’re told to ‘look within’ and find what we need there… but here’s the thing… we all know deep down that we are not perfect. There remains the nagging feeling that we need something more. That we need to BE something more, DO something more, HAVE something more. That really… we are not enough.

I write songs to remind you to look up. To remember the God who says you don’t need to be enough. Because He has already been enough FOR us. To remind you that God delights in ‘small things’. Not a distance force, but a person. Who walks beside you, goes before you, and guards behind you. Who loved you enough to take those nagging imperfections and pin them to his own record… in order to wipe your record clean.

I write songs about my family, my children, my husband. About pointing them to the kindness and beauty of Jesus. I write about friends and people we’ve met along the way…  about their journeys, their struggles and their growth. About how God takes the hard things in our lives, the broken things, the ‘not enough things’ and makes them all into something beautiful… and through them all shows us more clearly who He is.

I hope as you listen you are encouraged that God takes us in all our weakness, loves us patiently… with a higher and deeper and wider love than the self-love we could ever possibly offer ourselves.

Friend, He is enough.

 

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Latest Blog

How does a primary school teacher from N.S.W Australia end up traveling the world sharing music? Recording in Nashville? Well…  it’s been a wild ride.  God has done some incredible things. These are some of the stories of God’s faithfulness, provision and providence in a whole heap of rather incredible "coincidences".

Servant- The Story Behind The Song 

2020 was a very difficult year.

I know I don’t need to tell you that because you also lived through it.

Lockdowns, uncertainty, financial stresses, a virus we knew little about… we all carried a load that year that we had never carried before. For me, it was a year at home with a precious new baby. A new baby that had reflux and colic and who seemed to be allergic to sleep. Like really… allergic! We even had a sleep school stay at a Sydney hospital to try and encourage him to sleep… even just a bit! I had two…

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How Many Singers Does It Take To Screw In A Lightbulb? 

How many singers does it take to change a light bulb? Two, one to change it, and the other to hog the light.

“How long has it taken to make these songs?” It was a fair question, and I laughed at how her eyes widened when I said it had taken a full year. Yes… one whole year to make 5 songs…

 In January 2022 I sat on a balcony at Sea World Resort in Queensland and anxiously checked my phone. I had timed it perfectly, my two-year-old was sweetly napping in the room behind me, while my older kids had hit the…

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Tears in Tamworth 

There’s a famous country song by Rascall Flatts called ‘Backwards’ that details how if you were to play any country song backwards you would regain all the things in life you’d lost. I laugh every time I hear it, but as a country-folk writer I resonate with the grain of truth embedded in it. Every country song tells a story, and the story of life involves constant loss and gain, trials followed by triumph, growth through grief.

Tamworth came about in an unexpected way for me. I had emailed a friend (the…

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How God Was Kind In Nashville 


Going to Nashville was a LOT harder than I had anticipated and God made His presence known there in some really surprising ways. I want to share with you some of the stories about what happened and how (with the benefit of hindsight) God truly was in control the whole way. 

It started with an American basketball team being put through the check-in in Sydney ahead of me. I got there early! Plenty of time even! And yet I found myself waiting at check-in for over an hour and a half and stuck in security as my…

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Shows

I would love to see you at one of my upcoming events! Click on the links below for further details and ticketing information for each event. 

Previous events

Date Event Location
 —  — Southern Highlands Christian School Country Fair Southern Highlands Christian School, Bowral Southern Highlands Christian School, Bowral
Fern Johnston Tamworth Country Music Festival- The Jubilee Cafe, Tamworth Tamworth Country Music Festival- The Jubilee Cafe, Tamworth
Fern Johnston Tamworth Country Music Festival- The Jubilee Cafe, Tamworth Tamworth Country Music Festival- The Jubilee Cafe, Tamworth
Fern Johnston Tamworth Country Music Festival- The Jubilee Cafe (Hands of Fame Park), Tamworth Tamworth Country Music Festival- The Jubilee Cafe (Hands of Fame Park), Tamworth
(AEDT, UTC+11) (AEDT, UTC+11) Fern Johnston Kiama Pavilion and Showgrounds, Kiama NSW 2533 Kiama Pavilion and Showgrounds, Kiama NSW 2533
Fern Johnston and Jordan Worner Presbyterian Church of Saint Andrew Canberra, Forrest, ACT Presbyterian Church of Saint Andrew Canberra, Forrest, ACT
Fresh Flows- Live Acoustic Showcase Lords Estate Events, Sydney, NSW Lords Estate Events, Sydney, NSW
(AEDT, UTC+11) (AEDT, UTC+11) Tamworth Country Music Festival- The Jubilee Cafe Tamworth Country Music Festival, Tamworth Tamworth Country Music Festival, Tamworth
(AEDT, UTC+11) (AEDT, UTC+11) Tamworth Country Music Festival- The Jubilee Cafe Tamworth Country Music Festival, Tamworth Tamworth Country Music Festival, Tamworth