Naomi Cooke Johnson Unleashes Sizzling Summertime Anthem As Her Solo Debut

Naomi Cooke Johnson reflected on what summer meant to her, growing up as a homeschool student. The country singer-songwriter and Runaway June alum captured those memories of freedom and unleashed them in her fiery solo debut, “Girls Of Summer,” on Friday (June 23).

Cooke Johnson’s summers “represented a type of freedom to me and my family who lived in a renovated school bus and traveled the country, state park to state park, living without boundaries and rules. Summer then was a cold stream, thick woods, fireworks and dirt under my nails from climbing a tree,” she wrote in a lengthy Instagram caption to mark the dawn of a new era in her music.

“Later when we settled in a small town on the gulf coast I spent my teenage years playing my guitar for tips on a dock in a tourist town, watching the boys and girls of summer come and go as the seasons changed,” she continued. “Every year summertime ushered in a free spirited, exciting, sexy, colorful energy. Summer lovers scattered across the beach, drunk in sunshine and freedom and for 3 months out of the year it was my job to entertain them. I was a bit sheltered then and in other ways entirely over exposed to the ways of the world. I was a wild child, hippie kid that came from nothing and had nothing except for a lot of spunk and tenacity.”

Cooke Johnson deems that era of her life her “first taste of independence,” and also remembers her first love and other memories that “will always define” summertime, and she hopes that listeners will reflect on their own memories of the season as they listen to “Girls Of Summer.”

Cooke Johnson joined forces with Jason Duke and Jacob Durrett to pen the summertime anthem. It was produced by Durrett, who has previously worked with artists like Morgan Wallen, Breland, Thomas Rhett and ZAYN, per a press release announcing “Girls Of Summer” on Friday.

“Whatever summer is to you, whether on a beach, a broadway street, or just riding around your hometown with the windows down and your friends by your side, I hope ‘Girls Of Summer’ will transport you to a barefoot euphoria of your own where new core summer memories are made,” Cooke Johnson said. Listen to her solo debut here: