JAMEY
JOHNSON’S 25-SONG DOUBLE ALBUM
THE GUITAR
SONG CERTIFIED GOLD
Critically Acclaimed Project Earns Two Grammy
Nominations
Jamey Johnson's
critically acclaimed 25-song double album, The
Guitar Song, which received two Grammy
nominations including the prestigious Country
Album of the Year, has been certified gold by the
Recording In-dustry Association of America.
“My dream already came true,” he says.
“All I ever wanted was just to get to ride
around and sing country mu-sic. It's cool when
things like that happen along the way. Because
those are the things I never thought I could
achieve. Whether or not it's gold or platinum or
hell, diamond for that matter, it wouldn't
surprise me anymore. I'll just keep doing what I
do. I wake up every day and go play some more
country music and have another drink.”
The project also received a Grammy nomination in
the category of Best Male Country Vocal
Performance for the song “Macon.” He
received a third Grammy nomination in Best
Country Collaboration with Vocals for “Bad
Angels” with Dierks Bentley and Miranda
Lambert.
“As an album, The Guitar Song is the
collection of this journey,” Johnson says.
“It's one that goes all the way around. It
starts off in a deep, dismal, dark place and ends
up in a far better place. That's what has
happened to me over the past several years.
Something that started in a dark corner has ended
up getting to be all over the country. I've seen
some of the most beautiful places I've ever seen
in my life the past several years and I would-n't
trade that for anything.”
December has been a month of tremendous honors
for Johnson. In addition to his Grammy
nominations, his al-bum has been prominently
featured on numerous 2010 best-of lists and he
was invited to pay musical tribute to one of his
idols, Merle Haggard, at the Kennedy Center
Honors in Washington, D.C.
The Guitar Song was ranked No. 5 on Rolling
Stone's Best Albums of 2010 and “Macon”
was ranked No. 23 on Rolling Stone's Best Singles
of 2010.
“What does Jamey Johnson keep under all of
that hair? Songs,” says Rolling Stone.
“Nashville's gruffest and grittiest star
turns out to be its most reliable traditionalist,
a Music Row pro who can write a song for every
emo-tional season. Johnson pulled out a whole
slew of them 25, clocking in north of 105 minutes
for his double-disc fourth album: acoustic
confessions and rugged boogie blues, big weepers
and grim reapers, cover tunes and nov-elty
ditties, not to mention 'California Riots' and
'Playing the Part,' a pair of fiercely funny,
unrepentantly red-neck swipes at the frou-frou
blue states.”
In early 2011, Johnson will join Kid Rock on his
national “Born Free” tour, which begins
in front of a crowd of 60,000 on Jan. 15 at
Detroit's Ford Field.
While Johnson remains appreciative of his honors
and accolades, they remain secondary to the fact
that he's able to live his dream of writing and
performing country music.
“The underlying current is that when I sit
down to play music, I play music from my
heart,” says Johnson. “As long as I can
keep a grasp on that in some way through my
career, hopefully I'll be all right.”
www.jameyjohnson.com or www.umgnashville.com
|
