Singer Johnson starts fresh after "Lonesome" time

By Ken Tucker

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - In classic country fashion, once-bitten, twice-shy Jamey Johnson owes at least part of his new record deal to not one, but two breakups.

In short order, he was dropped from Sony BMG Nashville and went through a divorce in 2006.

"At first you go through all of the usual things," Johnson, who is now signed to Mercury Nashville, says. "I was a little stunned and a little mad, a little frustrated and a little hurt. I've never been fired from anything in my life."

After the aforementioned incidents, the artist turned into a recluse. "I wouldn't talk to anybody. I wouldn't go out to clubs. I didn't want to be at any party. I quit drinking for more than a year. I rented a basement in a friend's house and stayed there, coming up with songs and ideas.

"In that respect, losing my deal was a good thing, because I finally had time to come home and get my life back in order," the Alabama native adds.

In September 2006, George Strait spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart with "Give It Away," a song Johnson co-wrote with Bill Anderson and Buddy Cannon. The tune also garnered song-of-the-year honors from the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. Johnson also scored a No. 1 with Trace Adkins, who took "Ladies Love Country Boys" to the top in March 2007.

After releasing "That Lonesome Song," an album produced by the fictional Kent Hardley Playboys, on the Web, Johnson drew the attention of Mercury. The artist, who had been approached by other labels, was skeptical but met with the label anyway. He was pleasantly surprised when Universal Music Group Nashville chairman Luke Lewis promised not to interfere with the creative process.

"He looked at me and said, 'I don't know what y'all are doing in that studio and I don't even care, (but) don't mess with that sound,'" Johnson recalls. "I was shocked."

Ex-Marine Johnson had a reputation for hard drinking and getting into trouble, but "all the bad stuff was actually attractive to me," Lewis, a Waylon Jennings fan, says with a laugh. "One of the reasons I wanted to sign him was because he did have that bad-ass reputation. I'm tired of that soccer mom sh-t."

Johnson's Mercury debut single, "In Color," a look at the world as seen through the eyes of his grandfather, is No. 37 on Hot Country Songs. The album "That Lonesome Song," due August 5, includes the tracks "Dreaming My Dreams" and "The Door Is Always Open," both of which were previously recorded by Jennings.

Johnson says the pain was worth the gain. "I can't even tell you how great this all feels to me," he says. "This is one of the most awesome times in my life, just to see all this stuff unfold the way that it has."

Reuters/Billboard