Joshua Hedley might be the greatest musical chameleon country music has ever seen. His first two albums saw him diving into different styles under the country umbrella. His debut, Mr. Jukebox, was pure 1960s countrypolitan. Neon Blue, his sophomore release, could have been a hit in the mid-1990s. Today, he released his new album All Hat. Co-produced by Hedley and Asleep at the Wheel frontman Ray Benson, the album sees him jumping into Western swing with both feet.
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Ahead of today’s release, Hedley sat down with American Songwriter to talk about All Hat, his time on the road with Asleep at the Wheel, his plans for the future, and more.
Why Make a Western Swing Album?
Joshua Hedley is no stranger to Western swing. He had been on the road with Asleep at the Wheel for a couple of years. In that time, he formed a friendship with Ray Benson. That led him to All Hat.
“Honestly, I was writing for another project and I was out on the road with Asleep at the Wheel,” Hedley says. “Ray was like, ‘You ought to let me make a record on you.’ I was like ‘Alright. Cool. How about the next one?’ I put everything on hold and just jumped right into writing Western swing,” he adds. “I had a really good time writing this record. I think I’m going to stick around this genre for a while.”
That last statement may be somewhat surprising for those who have been following Hedley’s career. The decision may have been a surprise to him as well.
“The game plan was to make a bunch of records that were different country styles. I wanted to showcase all the different flavors of country music, but I really like playing Western swing,” he explains. “I like it a lot. This is actually my second Western swing album. I made one when I was 15. I made a tribute to Bob Wills with Buddy Spiker and his band. I’d like to put that out,” Hedley says of his plans.
Joshua Hedley on Working with Ray Benson
“It was a dream come true,” Joshua Hedley says when asked about working with Ray Benson. “Asleep at the Wheel has been one of my favorite bands since I was 11. When I was a little kid, before I started singing in public, I was just a fiddle player, and that was the goal to play fiddle for Asleep at the Wheel,” he adds. “So many years later, to get to do that and get to make a record with Ray. It’s just crazy. It’s not a thing I thought was going to happen. My whole career is just things I didn’t think were going to happen to me.”
The fandom isn’t one-sided. I’ve personally heard Benson praise Hedley and his musical chops. “He was a fan of Mr. Jukebox when it came out. He was playing it on his radio show,” Hedley recalls. “We did some show together. That’s when we met. I was just hanging out on his bus and talking to him for a while. We talked for like an hour, just bullsh*ttin’ about Western swing and music and politics and everything. We just clicked,” he explains.
Writing Different Styles of Country Music
Joshua Hedley wrote most of All Hat and Mr. Jukebox. He co-wrote most of Neon Blue as well. In short, he’s a flexible songwriter.
“It’s definitely different,” he says when asked about how he approaches different styles. “It’s all real formulaic. That was the main reason I had co-writers on the last record. It was out of my wheelhouse. So, I brought in co-writers because there’s so much rock influence in ’90s country, and I can’t wrap my head around that formula,” he explains.
“Writing ’60s country, all you really need is intro verse, chorus, turnaround, chorus, and you’re out. I could write that way. A lot of Western swing songs are just one verse, and that’s it. There’s a couple songs on the record like that, where I just sing one verse. Then, there’s a bunch of solos and I sing that verse again,” he says.
“There’s a ton of Bob Wills songs that are just one verse, and you just throw the solos around, sing that verse again, and take it home,” he points out. Laughing, he adds, “That’s a really efficient way to write a song. You can get a lot of songs written when they’re only one verse.”
However, that doesn’t mean that writing a Western swing song is easy. The lyrics are only a small part of the finished product.
“Western swing is so much about the instrumentation and the band and the arrangement. It’s all geared toward different styles of dance. The lyrics are really secondary when compared to, say, a Hank Williams song or ‘El Paso’, where the lyrics are everything.”
Joshua Hedley’s Favorite All Hat Track to Play Live
“’ Hedliner Polka’ without a doubt,” Joshua Hedley said without hesitation when asked which of the songs on the new album is his favorite to play live. “I’m so proud of that song. It’s the first instrumental I’ve ever written, and it’s just a straight-up polka. I love putting out a no-frills polia in 2025,” he explains. “We need more polka.”
All Hat is available to stream across digital platforms. Physical copies, including signed CDs and vinyl, are available via New West Records.
Featured Image by Joshua Black Wilkins
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