Sometimes it takes an outsider to see the beauty of Acadiana. Jillian Johnson was that outsider. In a town that is growing increasing homogenous, she was more invested in Lafayette and its uniqueness than the vast majority of natives. Johnson was one of the fatalities in the shooting at the Grand 16 movie theater, she was 33.

Johnson moved to Lafayette from Tennessee and became ingrained in the local music scene—doing promotional work for bands such as the Red Stick Ramblers, documenting Acadiana’s music culture and forming an old timey string band, The Figs. Johnson performed sporadically with The Figs, including a July 17 show at Chickie Wah Wah. Through her promotion of local music and her businesses, she lived a movement dubbed “leauxcal” that called on support for locally crafted and owned businesses. Her full time gig was a business woman, owning and operating Parish Ink and The Red Arrow Workshop, which had a location in Lafayette and in New Orleans on Magazine Street. The design and apparel stores created and sold Lafayette and Louisiana-themed shirts, gifts and accessories. It will be closed until further notice, according to The Red Arrow Facebook page.

Last year, she spoke to Lafayette’s Daily Advertiser, about local culture:

“Anybody who’s ever been here and who has any kind of thirst for anything culture-wise will find that this is a place that really has no bounds,” Johnson said. “If you don’t like what our culture is, that’s one thing. But to say that it doesn’t exist is absurd.”

A truly beautiful soul, in an 2012 interview with the Advertiser, Johnson said she lived by the values “be nice, do good work, try hard, listen, love.”

 

In 2007 OffBeat Magazine ran this profile of The Figs.

In 2009 OffBeat Magazine reviewed The Figs CD What Keeps You Up at Night.

OffBeat Magazine included the CD in The Best 40 CDs of 2009