Ava Rose Johnson, a 16-year-old Osage/Cherokee singer and Eufaula student, has been recognized as a two time honoree for the NextGen Under 30 Oklahoma Award.
Recipients of this award are selected based upon their participation in their communities and their contributions. A panel of respectable business and civic leaders serve as judges over the NextGen Awards.
“I’m so honored to be recognized as a twotime honoree for this award,” Ava said. “My first time was in 2021, when I was the youngest in history to win in my category. Now in 2023, as a sophomore in high school, I am being honored again and I feel so blessed and grateful!”
Ava has been captivating audiences with her songwriting abilities and stage artistry from the tender age of twelve, even winning the Native American Music Awards Best Female Artist of the Year.
She recently performed at the Nashville to New Mexico event in Eagle Nest, New Mexico.
“I had an absolutely amazing time over that weekend getting to see and perform with Billy Dawson, Chris Tompkins, Bobby Pinson and Phillip Lammonds. I was so excited to have the opportunity to debut my latest song with Billy Dawson. Then I was called back up on stage to sing “Before He Cheats” by Chris Tompkins, the very man who wrote that song and Carrie Underwood made it famous. He said I need the girl in the silver boots to come back up here. Then they wrote a song on stage about the girl in the silver boots. That was super exciting! It was an unforgettable and such a memorable experience! I absolutely love this whole village of old friends and making new friends each time I go!”
After Ava returned home it wasn’t long before she was dashing off to Nashville again to record her next single.
“I recorded my last song that I wrote with Billy Dawson and Kelly Johnson called “Sweet Home Oklahoma” while in Nashville. Grady Saxman from Saxman Studios finished the tracking for it so I will lay down my vocals at Dawson Studios. Then September 9 I’ll be headlining a performance at Fort Wallace Museum in Wallace, Kansas. I also performed in Las Vegas at the end of June at The Palms for 49ers at the Palms for the Indigenous Hoops League and then I came back and performed at River Spirit for their Tribal Self Governance Conference.”
Come Sept. 11, Ava will be back in OKC for a Day At The Capitol with other NextGen recipients and later will be honored at the 13th Annual NextGen Under 30 Award Ceremony on Friday, Nov. 3 from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. at the Embassy Suites in Norman.
“I am just in such awe of how blessed I have been to work with such amazing artists and to have won such amazing awards and now I am just a sophomore in high school and only 16 years old. Some people dream of these lifetime experiences but I am living them right now!”
