Jamey Johnson

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Adjust and Overcome

Jamey Johnson’s made it through the dark times and emerged with a new outlook and a powerful hit with “In Color.”

Jamey Johnson’s written hits like “Give it Away” and “Honky-tonk Badonkadonk” for other artists, but his own new album proves that he sings ‘em as well as he writes ‘em. He recently sat down with CW to chat about hard times, his new music and missing the American cowboy. Here’s some of what he had to say. For more on Jamey, check out the Sept. 22 issue of Country Weekly.

CW

I love your new record.

JJ

Thank you. I’m just kinda playin’ country music the way I heard it growin’ up.

CW

How far apart were your divorce and getting dropped by your first label?

JJ

Soon as I left the radio tour out promoting “The Dollar,” that marriage hit the skids. It was probably a long time coming at that point, but it was just the thing that drove us over the edge.

CW

Did you know then it was a long time in coming . . . or was that just in hindsight?

JJ

Amy and I had been trying to hold together our construction company and weren’t havin’ much success with that. We had a business partner that . . . well, let’s just say it didn’t work out too good with that guy. When that construction company failed, I had no other recourse. I got in the music business full time. I took a publishing deal, sang a bunch of demos and just really started workin’ overtime on the music end of things. And the money came in enough to take care of the family. But she and I had moved on past a marriage relationship into that of just business partners. And if you’re not gettin’ fed, it’s a matter of time before you look away from that source. I think both of us did that.

CW

Would you have stayed in the construction business if it had been going well? Was it a blessing of sorts that it failed?

JJ

Every job I ever had, whether I loved it or hated it, I always viewed it the same. It was somethin’ to do until my music career took off. I never saw ‘em as anything other than . . . keep the bills paid, keep the rent paid. But, in the time being I was gonna go out and learn a craft though. I wasn’t out workin’ just to pay the bills. I learned how to do a lot of different things in my life. Construction, and I worked for an industrial pump company, a sign company, a cable company. Just through the process of things, I learned so much about buildin’ houses and that sort of thing.

CW

Was there a time after you lost your first deal when you went from, “Well, damn” to “Thank you, Jesus”? When you realized you were out of an unhealthy situation?

JJ

I think sometimes a record label’s gonna be just like a relationship, just like a wife. And I think at the time I signed up with those guys, I was ready to get started. And they were lookin’ for somebody to make a country music album. I don’t regret my time with RCA at all. I learned a lot about the music business from that label. Such good people. Who knows why things happen? I know that two weeks after I was dropped, [label head] Joe Galante called me. And he didn’t have to call me. He could’ve just chalked another one on the wall and moved on. But he called me personally. He wanted to tell me that it was nothing but the merger between Sony and BMG. A lot of great artists were squeezed out over there that they were tryin’ to get off the ground when that merger took place. They had so much extra responsibility to take on, I don’t think they had time to start growin’ a new artist right then. I’ve never forgotten that. Since then, he and I have always shaken hands and I hug his neck every time I see him. He was a great source of education for me. The label I’m on now, it comes with a lot of different things that match me more as an artist than RCA did.

They’ll let me make the record I want to make. In fact, they count on that. So, yeah, there’s a lot of freedom involved in this album.

CW

There’s a line in “The High Cost of Livin’” about Jesus turnin’ his back. Has there ever been a time when you felt like Jesus had turned his back on you . . . or have you always known He was there?

JJ

It wasn’t so much Jesus at that point as it was a bunch of church people who said they were friends and said they could help. You know, you get a little bit loose from the church and they just cut you all the way loose and let you go. And it’s like, “Man, I wasn’t lookin’ for that. I’m lookin’ for answers here. I’m tryin’ to understand what in the hell’s goin’ on in my life right now.” You don’t turn your back on somebody goin’ like that. Well, hell, you turn your back on me, I turn my back on you. That’s what led me farther away from God for a brief period of time. I never pass the blame on anybody. You’re a man, you’re gonna do what you’re gonna do. I think it seemed to me . . . I thought I had more friends than I actually had as soon as I hit bottom. You look around, there’s fair weather friends all over the place. “Hey, man, call me when you’re ready to go rockin’ again.” But, hell, when you’re goin’ through some stuff, you’ve gotta stay at home by yourself. I turned into a recluse for the longest time—probably a year and a half or two.

CW

Could you count on one hand the number of friends who were still there wantin’ to help you out or do anything for you?

JJ

Shoot, man. They know who they are. There’s people I’d go wipe my bank account out for right now if they needed it. I’ve got some real friends after goin’ through that.

CW

Are you somebody who prays now?

JJ

I’m not one of those who prays to hear myself pray. I think you’re constantly talkin’ to God. I think you’re constantly lookin’ for your way. And, yeah, God’s the first thing I think of when I see somethin’ beautiful—whether it’s a mountain range or a stream or a snow-cap up in Oregon. Hell, whether it’s a woman in a bar. That’s the first thing you think of, “Wow. Good job, God.” [he chuckles]

CW

In The Last Cowboy, you talk about the John Waynes and the Waylons and the Gene Autrys who aren’t around much anymore. What are young people missin’ out on by not having those larger-than-life types around?

JJ

The cowboy is the American mythological figure. The cowboy represents everything that is America. I think there’s nothin’ wrong with national pride. It’s where you’re from. It’s the land you’re gonna protect because your kids are gonna grow up here. You can’t feel bad about being proud of where you’re from. You can’t ever lose that sense of nationality. And by the same token, you can’t lose that sense of ownership in your music. There was one time that country music owned the rights to the American cowboy outright, if there was a copyright that could be written on such a thing. Where is the American cowboy now? Are we just chokin’ him out? Do we not believe in him anymore? Do we not believe there are good men in the world? Or did everybody turn into a criminal?

CW

In “Angel” I love the line about “lawyers poisoning the well and they’re makin’ a killin’ as your love is dyin’. Could I assume you don’t have a lot of divorce attorneys on your Christmas list?

JJ

When we separated, I waited the longest time. And I wouldn’t get an attorney. I could’ve gone out and got the most cut-throat attorney I could have, and I didn’t. She made the first move. She got an attorney and filed for divorce. But it was only after I had waited so long. I’m waitin’ to feel something again. I’m not one that gives up easily. But I also knew it was gonna be too confusing on our daughter if I went back home and tried to make it work before I was ready, before I understood that that is what I wanted. The longer the time that went by, it was just a matter of time. She got that attorney.

The first hearing we had in our divorce, I went to court without an attorney. ‘Cause I still didn’t have one. I just told the judge I hadn’t had time, I’d been on the road so long. But, even despite all that . . . the title of the song, in a lot of ways, answers the question: Am I shakin’ a demon that’s after my soul, or sendin’ an angel to hell?

As much as she hurt me in that whole process, I hurt her too. You never realize that ‘till after the fact. To this day, she’s one of my better friends.

CW

Is that the hardest thing you’ve ever been through?

JJ

I’d say it’s a toss-up between that and maybe Paris Island [Marine boot camp]. Paris Island lasted three months, and this seemed to last forever. So I’d say this was probably the hardest, just in terms of that.

CW

In a relationship now?

JJ

I’ve had one for about a year and a half, and just now broke up. It’s sad. I keep tellin’ myself, “Man, I’m gonna buckle down now and make this one work.” Again, I’m not one to give up easily. I’ll stick it out till the last one of us says, “bye.” But this one, we’ve been tryin’ to make it work long enough. It’s time to just put it down and see what else is there.

We’re not on bad terms. I told her, I quoted a line out of a Kristofferson song, “A Moment of Forever.” I just told her, “I’m so glad I got to dance with you.” That’s what it’s all about. If you can’t make it work, just try to be a friend.

CW

I know you and Teddy Gentry [formerly of Alabama] wrote “Stars in Alabama.” Did you and Teddy hit it off immediately as co-writers?

JJ

That was the first song we ever wrote together. Since then, I’ve probably written an album and a half or two albums worth of stuff with him. We write all the time. And the funny thing is, we have never booked a writing appointment! [he laughs] It’s always a spontaneous, day-of kind of thing. He bought this phone that was just like mine, so I was teachin’ him how to text on this phone. So I quit gettin’ phone calls from him, now I get text messages. [big laugh] It’s kinda funny to be beatin’ along in your day and get a text message from Teddy Gentry.

CW

Neither of you seems like a text message guy to me.

JJ

I used to not be one. I’m tellin’ you, these days, it’s just the best way to do business, when you can shoot a message over to somebody.

CW

In “Women,” I love the banter at the beginning. Have you ever felt like you were ever really close to understanding women?

JJ

Funny thing is, everything in that song could be said about a man, too. It just happened to be written by men, so it’s about women! [he laughs] But I think relationships all by themselves are confusing. And everything it says that’s kinda taken as a slight against women, the chorus says just the opposite. You know, “I’ve made em go insane and I’ve made ‘em go away . . . I just can’t seem to make one stay.”‘ [ Big laugh] No wonder! You might want to look at yourself!

CW

In “Stars in Alabama” you mention your mama’s safety net . . . and that she can “bring you back to earth.” How does she do that?

JJ

Aw, just kinda reminds you that the glamour and everything else is all in your head. You’re always gonna be what you’ve grown up to be. I’m always gonna be from South Alabama. I was raised down there and it’s what bent the trunk of my tree in this direction. The more you flower out in life, you always gotta go back to the root every now and then. That’s what Mama’s advice is.

For more on Jamey, check out the Sept. 22 issue of Country Weekly.

• September 8, 2008
• story by David Scarlett
• photo by JAMES MINCHIN/UMG

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