Long before the Americana boom woke up Music Row, Jamey Johnson was some listeners’ closest thing to a modern-day outlaw. Alongside Gretchen Wilson, he became a mid-aughts alternative to pop-country by infiltrating commercial airwaves. Johnson began as a songwriter, co-writing Trace Adkins’ tragically unhip “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.” The title track on his 2006 solo album, The Dollar, established Johnson as a solo performer whose sound and image were more akin to country greats than his contemporaries. That outlaw image has remained relevant since, netting a platinum album (2008’s The Lonesome Song) and opportunities to co-write with his honky-tonk heroes, including the 2016 George Strait collaboration “Kicked Outta Country.”
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