James Johnston Has Been Added To His First-Ever International Festival

James Johnston is heading to South Africa this October to perform at the Cape Town Country Music Festival. The event marks his first-ever appearance at an international extravaganza.

“So excited to announce my very first INTERNATIONAL festival! SOUTH AFRICA,” Johnston wrote on Facebook yesterday (15 February). “I’m coming for you this October!! Check out at this line up!!”

Johnston appears on the line-up with some influential country music heavy hitters, including Kip Moore, Zac Brown Band, Darius Rucker, Brothers Osborne, Cam, Morgan Wade, and Craig Morgan. The festival also stars Brendan Peyper, Demi Lee Moore, Roan Ash, Ricus Nel, and more.

Tickets to the 2024 Cape Town Country Music Festival are on sale now – you can find them here. The festival takes place on 26 and 27 October 2024.

Johnston’s booking on the festival follows a growing list of achievements for the Australian country music star. In December, the singer landed a whopping ten weeks atop the ARIA Top 20 Australian Country Albums Chart following the release of his debut album, Raised Like That.

Also in December, Australian country music icon Lee Kernaghan revealed that he and Johnston had worked on a duet together.

“James Johnston, we've recorded a duet with him, and we'll be releasing that, I think, next month. But I think back to the first time I saw him busking in Tamworth; he was only about 11 years old,” Kernaghan told Countrytown.

“Now all these years later, we've recorded a single and written songs together. So definitely think the world of him and The Wolfe Brothers will forever be my damn good mates. And it's been wonderful seeing them reach higher heights in the Australian country.”

Since releasing Raised Like That, the song, over two years ago, Johnston has experienced six #1 airplay hits, 110 consecutive weeks in the Top 20 of the Countrytown Hot 50 National Airplay Chart, 55 million global streams, two Golden Guitars and gone platinum in Australia.

Johnston’s debut album aimed to “take you on a full circle journey, from stories of life growing up in the country to reconnecting to your roots”, and it’s clear that the album has done that, connecting with listeners around the world.

You can read Countrytown’s interview with Johnston here, and find out how he took over country music in Australia with Raised Like That here.