The Little Miss is the moniker of Los Angeles-based artist, Hayley Johnson, who created the project in the spirit of old-timey folk and country-western music. With the addition of her bandmates, “The Cactus Kissers,” she has since found a way to blend the old with the new, focusing on maintaining the vintage western flair of a Marty Robbins while introducing the more contemporary existential and comedic elements of a Father John Misty (but with, perhaps, a *little* less self-loathing). This unique blending of genres, in combination with Johnson’s ever-relatable lyrics, has become Johnson’s signature: a presence that is equal parts heartbreakingly earnest and tongue-in-cheek.
Songs from The Little Miss’ debut EP, American Dream, have been featured on KCRW, Billboard, Wide Open Country, Tidal’s Country Rising playlist and, most recently, the FX television show, Better Things. The band has played at Bradley, CA music festival, Lightning in a Bottle, The Annie O Music Series atop The Standard in New York, and have been working to become a staple of the Los Angeles Americana circuit. The Little Miss’ debut full-length album, Best Self, is due out in Summer 2020.
With the gluttony of the holiday season sadly past us and we now face the first Monday of 2020, its the perfect time to premiere “A Week Into New Year’s Resolutions” by The Little Miss. Mixing a punctuating dose of retro soul and the garage-psych of Shannon and The Clams, The Little Miss makes undeniable razor-sharp pop. Better yet, the message and meaning of falling flat on our attempted resolutions will stick to most listeners.
“I wrote “A Week Into New Year’s Resolutions” about a week into my New Year’s resolutions. Staring menacingly at me from across the room were the running shoes I’d insisted on getting for Christmas. I had let yet another bag of kale spoil in the fridge. I hadn’t started a single book on my reading list. My desire to “optimize,” be productive and GET IT TOGETHER, DAMN IT, left me feeling completely defeated,” explains Johnson.
“Then, in writing about all that I had left unfinished, or rather, un-started, I experienced relief. All of the shame I’d been carrying around let up, as I was able to shine a light on all of my self-imposed pressure. No one was telling me to go running every day, I had merely internalized the traps of comparison culture, societal expectations, and the old, mean voices in my head that were telling me, again, how I didn’t measure up.
“This shame is toxic, and it is ever-present in our society,” adds Johnson. “For so many of us, productivity and new modes of “enlightened” living have become the new keeping up with the Joneses. We’re graded, we’re pitted against one another and we’re told to always do more, not less.”
“But where’s the room for just existing? For our humanness? Because none of us are all one thing. You can be an advocate for both personal growth and naps. You can stress eat gummy bears and also eat kale salads. You can chase your whiskey with green juice. Our seemingly conflicting, multi-faceted nature is what makes us endearing and loveable and relatable – not the opposite. So, maybe, JUST MAYBE, let’s all resolve to lean into what’s already there. Because it’s great as it is, and heck, because life is short.”
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