The Southern Sounds of Summer: Jamey Johnson rolls on with new album and tour

By Kevin Murphy Wilson Photos By Ben Christensen 

This season Louisville will host concerts by an assortment of Southern stylists such as jam-friendly Allman Brothers Band spin-off Gov’t Mule (July 25 at Iroquois Amphitheater), master musician and former Kentucky resident Vince Gill (July 26 at Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts), and Outlaw Country giant Jamey Johnson (August 17 at Louisville Palace). We recently chatted with the latter to discuss his major resurgence of late that includes a stunning new album, Midnight Gasoline, and extensive run of shows dubbed The Last Honky Tonk Tour. 

VOICE-TRIBUNE: Congratulations on your Spring wedding. That is such a beautiful thing. What sort of impact does having love, happiness, and stability in your life make on your songwriting? 

Jamey Johnson: “It’s been good so far. I mean you have to judge the fruit, right? This is pretty good fruit, brother.” 

VT: It was cool to see you on the Ryman [Auditorium] stage earlier this year as part of Ringo Starr’s Nashville celebrations [two concerts filmed for a CBS Television special], and last year you were here in Louisville playing the repertoire of The Band. Oddly enough, Don Was once told us that even though Ringo was a part of The Band’s original Last Waltz farewell concert, he had no memory of being there until the [Martin] Scorsese film [of the same name] came out and he saw himself there. Anyway, how much of an influence did the Beatles and the Band have on your approach to music-making? 

JJ: “Oh, a ton, I’m sure. Especially the Beatles. We don’t get to imagine a world without them, and I’m glad we don’t have to. It’s the language of culture. You know, there are certain things that we expect everyone to know a little something about and the Beatles are one of them. That [Ringo Starr TV special] was a lot of fun to do. But I was working on getting my prescription glasses updated and I didn’t have the new ones yet, so when they put the lyrics up on a screen in the back of the room to help those of us on stage out, I looked like I was ‘mean-mugging’ somebody the whole time but I was really just trying to make out the words to a Beatles song I probably learned in 1984 or something.” 

VT: So, how do you balance honoring tradition with breaking new ground artistically? 

JJ: “I think that is the tradition…passing it down. That’s the part of country music that you really can’t do anything about. It’s not like country music has to be popular to survive. Because it has survived when it wasn’t popular at all. I was just talking to [Nashville-based artist and songwriter] ERNEST about something very similar. You know, certain songs go from one generation to the next, and everybody that receives the gift, they get something good from it. I have had so many musical influences that I was a direct connection to: George Jones, Hank Williams, Hag [Merle Haggard], Johnny Cash, Willie [Nelson], Waylon [Jennings], Tom T. Hall, Billy Joe Shaver, Tony Joe White. It makes me want to try and express that bond and ERNEST completely understands that, too, as well as the need for us to figure out how to pass it on.” 

VT: You’ve been at it a while now. What made the process of assembling your latest LP special to you? 

JJ: “They’re all special. I think you have to think of a musical album the way that back in the 70s and 80s we had photo albums laying around the house. You only kept those pictures and included them in albums because they reminded you of something wonderful. My songs are placed on albums because they remind me of something wonderful. And if I should end up having to sing these songs every night for the rest of my life, then I have done well for myself.” 

VT: The music business seems stranger than ever. In this day and age, and at this point in your career, how do you measure success? 

JJ: “On how happy I am every day when I wake up. That’s it. There is no other measure. I have seen the money—and a lot of friends—come and go along the way. Everything goes away. So it has to be happiness that drives you. Every day I get to walk through the same scene as I am seeing right now…folks moving around setting up cables, beams, and lights, getting everything in place for my show…and, you know, there was a time in my life when I only dreamed of this stuff but now it has all come to fruition. I’m going to walk out on the stage tonight and I am going to sing my country music for these people and we’re all going to share that bond for a minute. Thank you for reminding me of all this sweet stuff.” 

For more information about Jamey Johnson’s Aug. 17 performance, visit louisvillepalace.com.