Jamey Johnson releases his much-anticipated debut Warner Music Nashville album, Midnight Gasoline, today, marking his first new solo studio album in 14 years. Johnson, who served as the video’s executive producer, developed the concept for the cutting-edge video that depicts him giving advice to his younger self. Joel Robertson directed the video that was shot in Nashville.
“The idea behind the video is if I could go back and meet the younger version of me, what would I say?” Johnson says. “Or would I?”
The video uses a mixture of AI technology and post-editing effects to feature Johnson both as a young man and as he is today. Johnson supplied about 30 photos of himself as a young man that were digitized and processed through AI software to “de-age” Johnson. This visual was placed over a “stand-in actor” in the video and blended seamlessly with post-editing effects.
The video features many aspects of Jamey’s real life, such as his beloved guitar, Ole Maple, the 1986 Dodge truck he owned when driving to Nashville for the first time and the clothes he wore in the music video for “The Dollar” (which are worn by the “young” Johnson). The photos featured in both wallets are Jamey’s photos of his daughter.
In the video as in real life, the young Johnson has his truck towed near a club he was playing in downtown Nashville.
“The first line in the song says, ‘Someday when I’m old, I’ll pull up to the store and park wherever the hell I want to.’ That makes me think of the time when I was young and had first moved to Nashville,” he says. “I parked my old ‘86 Dodge out in front of Tootsie’s and went in and played.”
But the next time he parked near Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, his truck was towed. “I liked the idea of this version of me telling that younger version of me that someday when I’m old, I’ll get to park wherever the hell I want to,” he says.
“I like the part where it says, ‘I realize that some things just don’t matter and how fast it all goes.’ If I could go back and bullet point that, I would try to give myself that message. It goes fast. It goes so fast.”
Today is also the release date of Midnight Gasoline, his first solo studio album in 14 years that is a collaboration with his label, Big Gassed Records, and Warner Music Nashville. It is also the first of his Cash Cabin Series, which is a collection of albums recorded at the famed studio in Hendersonville, TN, that was owned by Johnny and June Carter Cash and is now owned by their son, John Carter Cash.
Midnight Gasoline, known as Cash One, is a musical continuation of his last two solo studio albums, That Lonesome Song, which was certified platinum for 2 million in sales, and the gold-certified 2010 album, The Guitar Song, which debuted at No. 1 on theBillboard Top Country Album Chart. Rolling Stone and Spin named The Guitar Song to their all-genre Top 5 Best Albums of the Year. (He also released a 2012 duets project, the GRAMMY-nominated Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran, and a Christmas EP.)
Johnson’s co-writers on this album include Jim “Moose” Brown, Dallas Davidson, Ira Dean, Dale Dodson, Rob Hatch, Randy Houser, Ajay Popoff, Jeremy Popoff, James Slater, Ernest Keith Smith, Chris Stapleton and Tony Jo White. Other songs were written by Dean Dillon, Scotty Emerick, Kyle Fishman, Jeff Hyde, Chris Lindsey, Aimee Mayo and Troy Verges.
The album also contains “21 Guns,” “What a View,” “Trudy,” “Sober” and “Saturday Night in New Orleans,” all of which were released during the last few months.
About Jamey Johnson:
Johnson, a ten-time GRAMMY nominee, has been called “one of the greatest country singers of our time,” by The Washington Post. His music has garnered international acclaim and is embraced by fans of classic and contemporary country, as well as Americana and mainstream rock.
The Grand Ole Opry member is also widely regarded as one of the greatest country songwriters of his generation. He is one of only two people in the history of country music (along with Kris Kristofferson) to win two Song of the Year awards in the same year–for “Give It Away” and “In Color”–from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association.
A consummate storyteller, his songs have been recorded by George Strait, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Trace Adkins, James Otto, Joe Nichols and others. He is “a first-rate preservationist of classic country songwriting…,” says The New York Times.
His recent prime-time television performances have been widely recognized as the best of the shows, from singing “Georgia on My Mind” in the 2023 CBS special Willie Nelson’s 90th Birthday Celebration” and “Angels Among Us” for the 2024 CMT Giants: Alabama to performing “Beer for My Horses” in August with Lainey Wilson for the top-rated NBC special Toby Keith: American Icon” (available to stream on Peacock) and debuting his powerful song, “21 Guns,” during PBS’ National Memorial Day Concert earlier this year.
The Recording Industry Association of America recently honored him for sales/streams of 9 million, including the 5X platinum-certified single “In Color,” the 2X platinum-certified album That Lonesome Song, the platinum-certified single “High Cost of Living,” the gold-certified song “Between Jennings and Jones” and the gold-certified single “That Lonesome Song.”
Johnson just completed his “What a View” headlining tour and is now part of the “Life is a Carnival: Last Waltz Tour ’24,” the epic tour that continues the tradition of capturing the excitement of The Band’s historic 1976 Thanksgiving concert in San Francisco. The tour also features Ryan Bingham, Lukas Nelson, Don Was and others.
Last month, Jamey performed in “Life Is a Carnival: A Music Celebration of Robbie Robertson,” which was held in Los Angeles and filmed by Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese for an upcoming release.
Track listing for Midnight Gasoline
1. “Bad Guy” (Jamey Johnson and Dale Dodson)
2. “Midnight Gasoline” (Scotty Emerick, Dean Dillon and Jeff Hyde)
3. “What a View” (Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, Rob Hatch and Dallas Davidson)
4. “21 Guns” (Jamey Johnson and Jim “Moose” Brown)
5. “Someday When I’m Old” (Aimee Mayo, Chris Lindsey and Troy Verges)
6. “Trudy” featuring Randy Houser (Charlie Daniels)
7. “One More Time” (Jamey Johnson, Ernest Keith Smith and Rob Hatch)
8. “Saturday Night in New Orleans” (Jamey Johnson, Chris Stapleton and Tony Joe White)
9. “Sober” (Jamey Johnson and James Slater)
10. “I’m Tired of It All” (Dallas Davidson and Kyle Fishman)
11. “No Time Like the Past” (Jamey Johnson and Chris Stapleton)
12. “What You Answer To” (Jamey Johnson, Ira Dean, Ajay Popoff and Jeremy Popoff)
