{"id":3150,"date":"2011-08-08T22:11:27","date_gmt":"2011-08-09T05:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=3150"},"modified":"2011-08-08T22:11:27","modified_gmt":"2011-08-09T05:11:27","slug":"jamey-johnson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/08\/jamey-johnson\/","title":{"rendered":"JAMEY JOHNSON"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

JAMEY JOHNSON<\/h1>\n

A next-generation outlaw, shaking up country music with just a guitar<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Jamey Johnson\u2019s new double album, The Guitar Song<\/em>, is separated into conceptual halves. The first disc, dubbed \u201cBlack,\u201d reverberates with the damage caused by broken relationships and broken promises, then the \u201cWhite\u201d disc moves past loneliness and loss towards feelings of redemption and forgiveness. But ask the soft-spoken singer and songwriter about the album\u2019s dual nature, and he rejects any attempt at analysis. \u201cI really don\u2019t think about the concept of albums as much as I do recording sessions and what happens each time we go in the studio,\u201d he says. \u201cI just go in and cut songs that reflect what\u2019s going on in my life, and that I think will mean something to the people out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s songs do just that, for a large and growing audience\u2014but it wasn\u2019t always this way. His marriage and his previous record deal both dissolved in 2006, and a lingering reputation as a hell-raiser caused Music Row\u2019s interest to wane. In the aftermath, the artist turned into a recluse. He emerged triumphant with 2008\u2019s That Lonesome Song<\/em>, which marked his transformation into traditional country\u2019s new hope. The album received a slew of accolades upon its release, selling gold and launching the Top 10 country hit \u201cIn Color.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson adds considerably to his already rich catalog of original tunes with The Guitar Song<\/em>, even as he continues to pay homage to his traditional country forbears. He offers updated versions of country classics by Vern Gosdin, Kris Kristofferson and Mel Tillis on the new effort, just as That Lonesome Song <\/em>included explicit nods to heroes like Waylon Jennings. But Johnson seems uncomfortable being mentioned in the same breath as his idols, artists who\u2014like him\u2014succeeded commercially while challenging Nashville conventions. \u201cIt\u2019s like shining a light on a snake in the desert,\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cYou point that light and the snake starts wriggling around and it shows its real self. Those guys were just shining a light on the truth. I don\u2019t think they meant to cause trouble at all. They were just telling it how it really was. People\u00a0respond to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

With The Guitar Song<\/em> complete, Johnson is ready to hit the stage. \u201cThat was always my goal, to go around and be able to sing country music out on the road,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not about being in the studio. You have to get out there and speak directly to the people. My fans are a real good group of folks, real committed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013Blake Boldt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JAMEY JOHNSON A next-generation outlaw, shaking up country music with just a guitar Jamey Johnson\u2019s new double album, The Guitar Song, is separated into conceptual halves. The first disc, dubbed \u201cBlack,\u201d reverberates with the damage caused by broken relationships and broken promises, then the \u201cWhite\u201d disc moves past loneliness and loss towards feelings of redemption […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[2308,1062,10156,2309],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3150"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3150"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3152,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3150\/revisions\/3152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}