Stella Johnson is a McCauley-based singer/songwriter who performs regularly around Edmonton. 

“My dad’s a musician, and my mom’s a music lover. I was an only child and they always brought me to jams and festivals. Music was always a part of my life. It felt kind of inevitable that I would love it in some capacity and then I just took it my own way,” she says of her love of music. 

About her involvement with Heart of the City, Stella explains, “I’ve lived in McCauley my whole life. I remember being there when I was really little, and it was probably some of my first experiences getting up on stage because my dad would play, and I would get up and play some terrible harmonica with him or sing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.’ I’ve always loved that festival. It was a big part of my growing up.”

When asked to share more memories of the festival, Stella said, “The first two things that come to mind are Netti Spaghetti who would be there with the hula hoops and Mary Rankin’s song circle. I remember face painting - it was Rhonda Hardcastle who would have done it back in the day. These people are still so close to me and my family. I think Heart of the City was a necessary community in this area.”

As someone who grew up in the inner city, Stella says, “I saw a difference. I look like this hippy chick but that doesn’t always represent how I was raised and what I saw. I made some really bad decisions and hung out with some really risky people. I don’t think my friends in other places would have done such risky things. Luckily, I had it a lot better than a lot of people but I think it gave me a really unique perspective having gone through that and coming out on the other side a much stronger person. I knew that I lived in a worse off area than a lot of people I went to school with.”

She continues, “I was aware that growing up in the inner city was a unique experience. I don’t think I was aware of how that would affect me or the decisions that I made. I wouldn’t trade it for the world, and I’m very grateful for it. In different places that I go I’m not a judgmental person, and I could have been if I lived somewhere else.”

Stella tells me that despite being the daughter of Steven Johnson, the McCauley Community League’s long-term guitar teacher, she taught herself to play the guitar. At the same time, she says,  “I have my dad to thank for my musical awareness.”

She goes on to say, “Music - it sounds cheesy, but it’s like an extra limb for me. It’s something that I have to do. It keeps me somewhat sane. I like finding different ways that I’m going to take it. I’m kind of at a point where I don’t know what I’m going to do next, but that’s exciting in itself.” 

Corine Demas lives in McCauley where she is the President of the McCauley Community League and a board member with Heart of the City.