Joanna Smith Borrows the Phrase ‘Kissin’ in Public’

As a 20-something, Joanna Smith has enough life experiences to keep her songwriting full of new ideas, but once in a while she does borrow from her friends' lives. One instance in particular, she borrowed a line -- 'Kissin' in Public' -- from another songwriter, who shall remain nameless.

"I think she's aware that it's about her, but I don't know," Joanna tells The Boot. "I would say her name, the only thing is that it was something she said about her boyfriend, and they've broken up now. When I tell this story, I always say this about her: if she's not writing a hit song, she's inspiring one. [laughs]"

The 'Gettin' Married' singer and our mystery tunesmith actually met thanks to another singer-songwriter. "She was actually introduced to me by Luke Bryan," Joanna explains. "She was one of my first friends in Nashville but we never wrote together. She and I hung out and she's always been that older girl, who's given me boy advice, that I've hung out with. We've never written together, though. Strangely enough, my cousin is her business manager; we have a lot of connections."

Those links led to Joanna penning 'Kissin' in Public.' "One day, my cousin and I were chatting and I asked how [the songwriter friend] and her new boyfriend were," Joanna recalls. "She said, 'She's great. They're good. They haven't defined the relationship yet, but she said the other day that they were kissing in public, which was a big deal.'"

That's when lightning struck. "I thought, 'That's a song,'" Joanna exclaims. "I should have written it with her, but we have a writing appointment in a couple of weeks, so maybe we can make up for it."

Hopefully, the result of that appointment will lead to Joanna's next single. "We don't have a single out at the moment, but this is a really good and exciting time," she explains. "We've got some really good news forthcoming. We're going to make some changes, there won't be any huge 'she's completely transformed' things, but we're going to go back to the drawing board a little bit. We want to find a really great song. We've got stuff swirling around."

While Joanna is writing new songs, she's also out on the road. Catch her next in Reidsville, N.C. with Josh Thompson. Get more info here.