Despite his penchant for stoic, low-key performances, Jamey Johnson electrified last night’s (Sept. 8) Country Music Association Songwriter Series at Joe’s Pub in New York City, wowing the intimate crowd with a chills-inducing performance—and even cracking one-liners in between.

Joined by fellow songwriters Bob DiPiero, Kendell Marvel and Buddy Cannon the Alabama outlaw previewed tracks from his upcoming double album, The Guitar Song, including first single “Playing the Part” and the heartbreaking “Even the Skies Are Blue.”

But it was a bawdy unreleased number that got the most raucous reaction: "In This Honky-Tonk,” a song written in 1996 after Jamey spied a sign spelling out the “rules” of a particularly rough-and-tumble bar. “There are rules? I have to write this sh-t down,” he joked.

For more on Jamey’s new album, check out the Sept. 20 issue of Country Weekly, on newsstands Sept. 13.