JOHNNYSWIM, the acclaimed husband and wife singer-songwriter duo of Amanda Sudano-Ramirez and Abner Ramirez, returns with their fourth full-length album, JOHNNYSWIM, which is set for release on April 8.
The duo has released the album’s track, “Heaven Is Everywhere” alongside an accompanying video. The track marks one of the most poignant moments on the album, originally appearing in Abner’s head while he was in the shower as if he’d heard it somewhere before.
“When I started singing this chorus in the shower, I felt like what was inside of me was bigger than the whole world and I wanted to share it,” he recalls. “I find, whether it’s in church or in politics, that people get so obsessed with right and wrong and their certainty of it. If we experience the beauty of this life, even though the drudgery and the misery, there’s glimpses of heaven around us at all times. My hope with this song is that people can feel that when they hear it and sing it.”
Created during the heart of the pandemic, the self-titled album gives a voice to life’s ups and downs while Amanda and Abner translate their memories, moments and milestones into spirited anthems steeped in the singer/songwriter tradition. The new work marks a notable evolution for JOHNNYSWIM, pushing the pair to a new level as they shed light on relationships and the challenges that have emerged in a changing world.
“This has been the most isolated we’ve been in a creative process,” Amanda reflects. “But part of that has been really nice because instead of going off what we feel other people are responding to we’re really just trusting our own instincts and saying what we feel we need to say in the way we need to say it. In a lot of ways, I feel like it’s the most ‘us’ a record has been in a long time.”
“Hopefully it gives sound to some of our collective struggle as humans for the last few years,” Abner adds. “If we could bleed music it would sound like this album.”
Predominantly produced by Abner, the 17-track album was written and recorded at the pair’s home in Burbank, CA over the past two years. JOHNNYSWIM also includes additional production from Grammy Award-winning producer and songwriter Malay (Frank Ocean, Sam Smith) and Harold Brown as well as a feature collaboration with breakout artist Tobe Nwigwe on “Desmond’s Song.”
Last August, the group unveiled their track “Devastating” to critical praise; NPR Music proclaimed, “In the bittersweet ‘Devastating,’ those two sides of their lives come together, as they sing about one of the central ironies of love: that doing it right means setting yourself up for the savage pain of incalculable loss at the end of your lives.”
JOHNNYSWIM are also set for an extensive run of 2022 headlining tour dates. The shows kick off in Memphis, TN on March 24 and includes performances at Los Angeles’ Orpheum Theatre, Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House, Chicago’s Riviera Theatre and Boston’s Big Night Live as well as multiple dates at New York’s Irving Plaza. Full tour routing can be found below.
LIVE
March 24, 2022—Memphis, TN—Soundstage at Graceland*
March 26, 2022—Indianapolis, IN—Egyptian Room at Old National Centre*
March 27, 2022—St Louis, MO—The Pageant*
March 28, 2022—Minneapolis, MN—The Fillmore*
March 29, 2022—Chicago, IL—Riviera Theatre*
March 31, 2022—Knoxville, TN—Tennessee Theatre*
April 1, 2022—Cincinnati, OH—Promowest Pavillion at Ovation*
April 2, 2022—Columbus, OH—KEMBA Live!*
April 4, 2022—Boston, MA—Big Night Live*
April 5, 2022—New Haven, CT—College Street Music Hall*
April 6, 2022—New York, NY—Irving Plaza*
April 7, 2022—New York, NY—Irving Plaza*
April 9, 2022—Harrisburg, PA—XL Live*
April 11, 2022—Raleigh, NC—The Ritz*
April 12, 2022—Charlotte, NC—The Fillmore*
April 13, 2022—Nashville, TN—Grand Ole Opry House*
April 15, 2022—Atlanta, GA—The Eastern*
April 16, 2022—Atlanta, GA—The Eastern*
April 18, 2022—Houston, TX—White Oak Music Hall*
April 19, 2022—Dallas, TX—South Side Ballroom*
April 21, 2022—Oklahoma, OK—The Jones Assembly*
April 22, 2022—Kansas City, MO—The Truman*
April 23, 2022—Denver, CO—Ogden Theatre*
April 27, 2022—San Francisco, CA—The Regency Ballroom*
April 28, 2022—Los Angeles, CA—Orpheum Theatre*
*w/ Katelyn Tarver