Joni Harms

Joni Harms spent her childhood on an Oregon ranch, where her passion for singing merged with the routines of a cowgirl. While still in high school she captured first place in a Future Farmers of America talent contest, after which she began making regular journeys to Nashville in pursuit of a recording deal. Her signature came with executive Jimmy Bowen’s Universal imprint, a joint project alongside MCA Records, and in April 1989 the single “I Need a Wife” climbed into the country Top 40. Its successor, “The Only Thing Bluer Than His Eyes,” appeared on the country charts that June. When Bowen transferred to Capitol Records in 1990, Harms accompanied him; the label issued her debut album, Hometown Girl, though it failed to register on any chart. Throughout the 1990s she balanced continued musical work with marriage, the upbringing of two children, and ongoing responsibilities on the family ranch in Oregon. After Hometown Girl she issued Whatever It Takes and the all-original holiday collection Christmas in the Country. Warner Bros. Records signed her by 1998 and put out Cowgirl Dreams. She next recorded the children’s project Are We There Yet?, packaged with a coloring book, and authored the children’s title Stan and Bert. In fall 2001 a second children’s book, The Little Grey Donkey, reached stores at the same time as her new country album After All, which appeared on her own Real West Productions label via the independent Paras Recordings.