"Justin Garner"
"Justin Garner"
Singer, songwriter, and scholar; non-traditional attributes rarely coupled in the music industry as by-products of the consummate triple threat artist. Justin Garner is just that, yet he is traditional in all aspects of his personal background, his academic endeavors, and stumbling of a story into writing and recording.
Enter the journey of gentleman from a small town rarely mentioned in Louisianan history, Plaquemine! Justin hails from a town with a population of under eight thousand where everyone knows each other. Plaquemine, the very town where his late father, a musician was murdered and the alleged suspect has lived just around the corner for over 21 years, and has never been implicated by eyewitnesses nor brought to justice.
At the age of 11 Justin discovered he had garnered the gift of music one Christmas season after wowing his mom with his self-taught rendition of ‘Silent Night’, which led to his first live performance at church. From there Justin began to hone his skills through listening to and studying the harmonies of Earth, Wind, and Fire and vocal performances of Michael Jackson specifically. An avid fan of DC Go-Go music, Justin’s ability to write and sing is heavily inspired by the sounds, drums and rhythms of DC icons, Chuck Brown and Rich Harrison.
Fast forward to 2009: While Justin has been preparing for his final semester as a marketing major at Southern University he is set to receive his Bachelor’s degree in May of 2010. Justin has been successfully making a name for himself as the next big recording star out of Louisiana. Through a series of digital releases featuring covers, rewrites and remakes of chart-topping Pop and R&B stars like Leona Lewis and Rihanna, in addition to multiple self-penned and co-produced originals, fans, students, and local radio program directors are touting Plaquemine’s own as an imminent success in the recording industry.
“…I am not trying to be the bad boy of music…I’m not trying to be something I’m not, but I am trying to do something different with music…if it’s a good guy image and I’m the college guy, then that’s what I will be representing…”, says Justin.
After hearing Leona Lewis’s “Can’t Breathe” (2009) single in November of 2010, Justin followed his writing ambition and boldly looped the music and converted the song into a duet performance featuring himself. Due to an unauthorized leak, the internet and its users have been abuzz professing the recording as their preferred version, which led to the song’s writers contacting Justin and his management admitting to their flattery and interest in working with him.
At the request of Justin’s older brother Marlon, manager Craig Baylis, also a Southern University alum and seasoned industry figurehead (Jaheim, Eric Benet, Leela James, Crime Mob, and Trillville) immediately traveled to Louisiana from L. A. to meet with the emerging artist.
“Justin is odd to me and that’s why I immediately fell for his artistry, intelligence and story…he’s from a very small town, and he’s about to graduate from college, yet he writes feverishly, records relentlessly and the final product is always ready for the world to hear…I’ve partnered with him as a manager and a fan”, says Baylis.
Respect and love for the art of recording, a fan of yesterday and tomorrow’s legends, and a staunch interest in pursuing a career as a singer and songwriter as opposed to chasing a shortly lit star in entertainment makes for an ideal, yet non-traditional powerhouse from the very place that has traditionally given the world music never forgotten.
Justin will release a digital EP entitled, The White Labels in January of 2010, which will feature 4 rewritten and remixed chart topping singles from artists, writers and producers he admires, as well as his first original single.