Country singer/songwriter John PayCheck released his debut album We All Have a Story in 2021. Since then, he has released a handful of singles and his sophomore album More Days Behind (2024). After years of waiting, planning, and getting things just right, he’s finally ready to start releasing music videos from his debut. Today, American Songwriter is proud to premiere the video for the album highlight “Honky-Tonk Blackout.” Watch the long-awaited video below.
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John PayCheck is the son of country legend Johnny Paycheck. While he is not riding his father’s coattails, he proves that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. PayCheck recently sat down with American Songwriter to talk about the song and shooting the video.
John PayCheck on “Honky-Tonk Blackout”
“When I design an album of songs it comes down to me going, ‘I want a love song, I want a song about heartache,’ or whatever. We go through and get about ten ideas,” John PayCheck said of how he mapped out his debut album. “My co-writer, Scott Gabbey, came up with the original verse and chorus and he threw it back over to me. When I started looking at it, all I could hear was a very Hank Williams-type melody,” he said of the song. It’s not hard to hear the classic Hank Williams influence in the track.
“It was just coming up with a creative way to talk about that one person in the group who is the life of the party. When you show up at the bar, everybody is kind of famous for a couple of minutes. That’s the idea we were running with,” he said of the song’s meaning.
Shooting the Video
Finding a place to shoot the video was the hardest part of the project for PayCheck and his team. He’s currently located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C. As a result, there aren’t many honky tonks in his area. Luckily, after weeks of hunting for a location, Craig Foster reached out and offered his bar, the Cancun Cantina, as a location.
“He was more than accommodating,” PayCheck said of Foster. He even helped spice the video up a bit. “It was his idea to bring the team of dancers out for it and turned everything on for us and was just more than happy to help out with everything,” he said. “Hell, the guitar the guy breaks over the guy’s back was just something he had laying around in the back.” That wasn’t originally part of the plan for the video. Instead, it came about organically. After all, what’s a good honky tonk without a bar fight?
“It was a fun experience,” PayCheck said of shooting the video. More importantly, it was an experience that left him ready to shoot more videos in the future.
“Honky-Tonk Blackout” and We All Have a Story are available to stream across digital platforms today. The video will be live on PayCheck’s YouTube channel Friday (March 7).
Featured Image by Kevin McCabe
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