Country alter ego of City and Colour’s John Sponarski shares latest preview of highly anticipated new album
Johnny 99 returns to the roadhouse on his latest single, “Never Stay Down,” an upbeat track that’s sure to get boots on the dance floor. The song continues to set the table for Johnny 99’s upcoming album for North Country Collective this fall (more details to come!), joining the previous singles “Getting Over You,” “I Wanna Go With My Boots On” and “Just Like You,” which have solidified his place among the most important new voices on the Canadian alt-country scene.
Johnny explains,
“‘Never Stay Down’ is about finding yourself at the tail end of a rough patch and realizing the fun part of being self destructive has taken a dark turn. Sometimes when you find yourself at such a crossroads, the light you may have lost sight of now seems to be shining ever brighter. Upon this illumination, picking yourself up and making a course correction no longer seems like such a momentous task. After all, one can always lean on friends and a little bit of fun on the long road back up from the bottom.”
Johnny 99 is the alter ego of John Sponarski, guitarist in City and Colour, but as Johnny 99 he has been carrying the torch for classic country music for many years, as heard on the 2021 Johnny 99 debut album Words Left Unsaid. The long-overdue follow-up is slated for later in 2025, and once again, City and Colour fans will likely be surprised to hear how naturally Johnny, multi-instrumentalist Matt Kelly, bassist Erik Nielsen and drummer Leon Power immerse themselves in vintage country.
The evolution of Johnny 99 began after Sponarski earned his Bachelor’s Degree in music and spent the ensuing years touring as one half of the acclaimed duo Portage and Main, whose legacy is two albums of heartfelt roots rock. After that project’s dissolution, John began establishing his reputation as one of Vancouver’s in-demand session guitarists, working on countless records and backing up artists such as Aaron Pritchett, Ben Rogers, and Elliot C. Way. Since relocating to Toronto, Sponarski has been building a new community through his regular “Hippie Honky Tonk” nights at the Bell and Beacon on Queen Street West.
Johnny 99 made his debut in 2016 with a four-song EP as part of Light Organ Records’ Railtown Sessions. It showcased the first glimpses of his timeless songwriting, which fully bloomed when he recorded Words Left Unsaid for North Country Collective. At about the same time in 2021, John was invited to play on City and Colour’s The Love Still Held Me Near, and has been a touring member of the band ever since.
While getting to perform with Dallas Green on a nightly basis has fulfilled one of his primary ambitions, it is under the guise of Johnny 99 that Sponarski has been able to forge his own musical identity. It’s country music that was made to dance to, whilst shedding a few tears as well. In short, it’s honky tonk music, and right now, few artists in Canada are doing it better than Johnny 99.