The last time Jamey Johnson released an album, his daughter was in kindergarten, Barack Obama was president, Taylor Swift was still a country artist, no one had heard of Chris Stapleton, and Toby Keith was still alive.
Now Johnson proudly says his daughter is doing very well in college; Swift is among the most famous pop artists in the world, Stapleton is a modern-day country music king—and Keith succumbed to his battle with cancer.
Johnson explains that he wouldn’t have returned to the recording studio if not for that. He didn’t mean to let 14 years pass between albums, but he wasn’t in a hurry. Losing Keith made him realize that while his friend’s catalog was forcibly complete, Johnson was nowhere near finished writing and recording music.
He got to work. Johnson’s Midnight Gasoline will be available on November 8. The 12-song album reflects over two decades of songwriting and co-writes with famous friends and writers, including Chris Stapleton, Dean Dillon, Randy Houser, Rob Hatch, Dallas Davidson, Tony Joe White, Ernest, and Ira Dean. He recorded the album at Johnny and June Cash’s former studio, and it will be the first of many he captured there that he will release through Warner Music Nashville.
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Jamey Johnson’s ‘Midnight Gasoline’ will be Available November 8
“I really wasn’t even worried about making another album,” Johnson says. “I just never did find a way to make it a profitable thing for me. I always spent more money making the records than I got paid in return. Anybody will tell you that’s not a good business strategy.”
Johnson’s strategy had to change. His record deal had to change. The way he got paid had to change. And in the 14 years between albums, everything did change.
“There is a way now for artists like me to make a record and put the record out without going bankrupt for it,” Johnson says.
The process started with his old friend Cris Lacy, a former song plugger now co-chair and co-president of Warner Music Nashville. Lacy told Johnson the genre needed more music from him, and the pair figured out how to make it make sense.
The 10-time Grammy nominee went through decades of songs and tried to write new songs he felt needed to be heard. He limited the 2024 tour dates to 50 to give him more time to be productive creatively.
Jamey Johnson Co-Wrote With Ernest, Chris Stapleton, Randy Houser, Ira Dean
One of the songs he most wanted to record he didn’t even write. Aimee Mayo, Chris Lindsey, and Troy Verges wrote “Someday When I’m Old,” and Johnson sang the demo for the song in 2004.
“That’s the one specifically I’m talking about when I say it just deserves to be heard,” he says.
“Someday When I’m Old” was the last demo he sang for money, and the only reason he did that was because Mayo called and asked him to do it. When Johnson told her he wasn’t singing demos anymore because he got a major label deal, she said she wanted to be the person who paid him the most money that he’d ever made for a demo. And she said she wanted it to be his last one.
Johnson couldn’t say no – but he felt guilty about taking what he describes as “quite a pile” of cash to sing it. He kept the song and says it has been with him for “every bit” of his career.
“Ever since Kylee was born when she was a little baby, I’ve had that song in my life looking forward to the day where she starts a family of her own,” he says. “That’s the whole concept of the song is just … pointing out all the things we have to look forward to. And don’t forget that someday when I’m old, man, it’s happening now. That’s the main line in that song is how fast it all goes.”
Lyrics include: Yeah, someday when I’m old| I’ll keep chewing gum in my front pocket| And cold Dr. Pepper in the fridge| I’ll let my daughter get mad| Say I’m ruining their supper| When I give that stuff to my grandkids
One Song Wasn’t Quite Mashed Potatoes–There Were Still Lumps
He started writing “What You Answer To” with Ira Dean and brothers Ajay and Jeremy Popoff on his back porch in 2008. Johnson was never sure the song was exactly right. Then, the climate changed to match the song.
“It wasn’t quite mashed potatoes,” he said. “There were still some lumps in there somewhere. We had some things to work out. Luckily for me, the political climate being what it is gave me some opportunity to put something out there just to kind of; it is not intended to be a poke in one way or the other. It’s just this is the current state of affairs in the country.”
Dean Dillon, Scotty Emerick, and Jeff Hyde wrote the title track “Midnight Gasoline.” Johnson heard Emerick play it a few times at songwriters’ nights, and it reminded him of touring life. Plus, it’s one of his girlfriend’s favorite songs.
The album also includes a Randy Houser collaboration on Charlie Daniels’ “Trudy,” which he recorded soon after Daniels died.
Johnson co-wrote eight of the 12 songs on the project. He says he knows the music isn’t for everyone, but he’s going to keep doing what he does because he enjoys it.
“I know I’ve got some hardcore fans out there that enjoy it, too,” he says. “But, if you don’t like it, don’t listen to it. I don’t want you to. I’m not on a campaign to see how many fans I can collect. I’m not interested in you if you’re not into my music.”
(Photo courtesy of Jamey Johnson)
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