CMT.COM - Jamey Johnson show review
Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser Bring Outlaw Country Back to New York City
No Compromises Made During CMT on Tour Date at the Bowery Ballroom
By: Jim Allen
October 12, 2009
NEW YORK -- It wasn't until the last part of Friday night's (Oct. 9) performance at Bowery Ballroom that Jamey Johnson responded to the audience's shouted requests by stating laconically but unequivocally, "We're gonna stand up here and play whatever the f*** we want to." But it was clear all through the show that this is the hard-country hero's guiding principle.
For all the (justified) Waylon Jennings comparisons he's earned, it's this ethos that marks Johnson as a true inheritor of the Outlaw mantle. Here he was in New York City, kicking off a high-profile headlining tour sponsored by CMT, while still doggedly pursuing his muse to the seeming exclusion of commercial concerns. Not only did he leave 2005 Top 10 hit, "The Dollar," off the set list, he pretty much ignored his first album entirely, opting instead to intersperse new, unreleased songs in between the tunes from his second album, That Lonesome Song.
Things kicked off at the Lower East Side concert hall -- a venue usually reserved for rock bands -- with a rabble-rousing opening set by up-and-comer Randy Houser, Johnson's old buddy and occasional co-writer, who freely mixes country, soul and Southern rock. After one of the quickest equipment changeovers ever seen, Johnson casually but authoritatively took the stage, and before he'd finished his first song, "The High Cost of Living," the stark contrasts between him and his pal were obvious.
The two came up together playing Nashville bars and working with the same basic set of musical influences. However, their approaches couldn't be more different. Where Houser wholeheartedly worked the crowd, Johnson spoke not a word to the audience until his aforementioned comment about three-quarters of the way through the night. Where Houser pushed his big, bold voice hard, often twisting it around the melody like a soul man and raising intensity by rising to the top of his range, Johnson maintained his trademark earth-shaking rumble throughout his set, keeping his phrasing unadorned and his dynamics evenly understated.
Houser's set was full of brash, up-tempo tunes, while Johnson seemed almost obsessed with working the small-scale drama of slow-and-lowdown ballads. And most tellingly, where Houser seemed intent on establishing a rapport with the New York crowd, Johnson made it clear he was there strictly to pour his heart into the music. And if some folks happened to be on hand while that happened, well, that was all well and good for them.
Something else that quickly became apparent was Johnson's ongoing evolution, which seemed to be occurring right before the audience's eyes and ears, as he abandoned his early songs in favor of newer, emotionally richer, more personal tunes that haven't even been released yet, like the wry-but-rueful "Nothing Is Better Than You" and the moody "Back to Macon." No country singer worth his salt ever completely abandons his roots, though, and from his covers of Jennings' "The Door Is Always Open" and "Dreaming My Dreams" to his Willie-esque acoustic guitar solo on the latter, Johnson remained proudly and undeniably the product of his inspirations. Still, when the crowd took the lead vocal for virtually every word of Johnson's biggest single, "In Color," it was plain that the Alabama Outlaw has become a star in his own right.
Star status and multiple Grammy nominations be damned, though. After finishing a full set of music, Johnson brought out Houser for what might have been a quick encore. However, it turned into another whole set, with the two pounding out the kind of cover tunes they both used to play in those beer joints back in the early days.
"We came to New York for two reasons," Johnson declared, "to get drunk and to play some f***ing country music." And with that, he and Houser traded vocals on what amounted to a honky-tonk/Outlaw country jukebox -- with the pair tearing through Merle Haggard's "Ramblin' Fever," the Charlie Daniels Band's "Long Haired Country Boy," the Marshall Tucker Band's "Can't You See" and more by the likes of George Jones, Johnny Paycheck and other renegade forebears.
By the time they finally said goodbye to the crowd -- a mix of awed, respectful admirers and drunk-as-a-skunk revelers -- with "Give It Away," the George Strait hit co-written by Johnson, there was the distinct feeling that everyone had just experienced something that couldn't be manufactured by any amount of marketing. Somehow, an honest-to-God artist had managed to wander through the workings of the music business without getting the soul squashed out of him. The proof had just been laid out for all to witness, and now there was nothing to do but pray that he manages to keep his high-wire act aloft.
Comments
It was an incredible show and I am so glad I went! The music, laughs and people there just made for a great evening!
We were SO LUCKY to be @ this AMAZING show, they were so fantastic my 4th time seeing Jamey, 1st time seeing Randy They are so awesome and so are the band members! We loved the night! After the show Randy called my son because he love these guy's, going out with my boots on is his cell phone ringer and Jim Jim was dieing when Randy told him it was him,Jamey also spoke to him it made his night! I thank my now 18 year old son for turning us on to Jamey a few years ago WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see you again! I'll be watching The cmt awards looking for you both! Thanks for the great memories, pictures and autographs Dixiebell,CT
Jamey Johnson is a true artist...it shows in every performance. His heart- on- my- sleve songs just get to you and draw you into his wonderful musical world!! I have been blessed to catch several of Jamey's shows and each one has it's own uniqueness--and every one was entertaining and special. Last show he did Waylon's "Amanda"--always wanted to hear him do this one and he did it..it was better than I thought it could ever be done by anyone else--Jamey has the talent to make every song he performs his own and do it in his own way. I will be a fan for life and pray that he continues to love what he does and stays true to the sound that is his!!
I saw Jamey for the 5th time this year at a lil bar called the 40 watt club and was by far the best show and he was in rare form... He started at about 10:30 and was still playing at 2a.m when we had to leave..I had a 90 min drive home to Greenville,SC got to bed at 4a.m and back up for work at 6:30..It was well worth every bit of it and every penny to see his show! My hat was too tight the next day at work but it was well worth it...Everyone there did indeed see as the song states.."the redneck side of Jamey" and was a hell of a show!! This was a special show..his father was there and Jamey sang "In Color" and he said it was the 1st time he had sang the song with his father on stage with him,was a special moment for him..then later he said "you probably think I grew up in bars but I didnt,the 1st time I played a crowd this size was'nt in a bar..it was in church and I was singing harmony behind this man..and he pointed to his dad and they sang a gospel song together..was very cool!! Then later,in between songs as I was standing to the side of the stage..he looked over and looked dead at me and stared long and hard and nodded and raised his glass in a toasting motion to me and I gave him the thumbs up.. I met him earlier in the year and we had a cool conversation and I had told him of singing "In Color" at my grandpas funeral a couple weeks earlier.He had grown up in the depression as a boy on a farm in Ky and had served in Germany during WW II and so it was a fitting tribute to my grandpa. So when Jamey looked at me and toasted..it was as if he recognized and remembered me and he was saying hello friend!..It was a very cool moment!!! Already have my tickets for next month in Spartanburg,SC He is the real deal and as genuine as it gets..and to take a bit from Jameys song "The Last Cowboy".... Ever since Jamey,I finally found someone to play me a REAL country song!!!! Enuff said!
Haggard, Jennings, Jones, Whitley, and now Jamey Johnson. He is in that club in my opinion. Can't wait to see him live again - what a great show. Got more than my money's worth last time and THEN he still played another hour of classic covers!!!
JAMEY IS THE BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO THE COUNTRY MUSIC INDUSTRY SINCE THE ORIGINAL "OUTLAWS". I GET THE IMPRESSION THAT HE CARES ABOUT HIS MUSIC/LYRICS AND THE EMOTIONS HIS SONGS INVOKE ON LISTENERS WHO'VE HAD SIMILAR EXPERIENCES IN LIFE. HE'S TRUE TO HIS BEGINNINGS AND THOSE WHO HAVE INFLUENCED HIM BUT HIS WORK IS PERSONAL AND UNIQUE. I DON'T THINK HE COULD CARE LESS ABOUT MARKETING TO THE MASSES OR BEING POPULAR WITH THE MUSIC INDUSTRY ELITE. FOR THE PAST DECADE I HAD LOST INTEREST IN COUNTRY RADIO BECAUSE I COULDN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IT AND MAINSTREAM POP MUSIC. IT GOT TO THE POINT THAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT SELLING ALBUM COVERS. ARTISTS SEEMED TO BE CHURNING OUT WHATEVER THEIR MARKETING PEOPLE TOLD THEM TO. THE FIRST TIME I LISTENED TO THE LONESOME SONG ALBUM ALL THE WAY THROUGH I WAS HOOKED. IT WASNT UNTIL THEN I EVEN KNEW WHO SUNG THE DOLLAR OR WROTE ALL THOSE HITS THAT OTHER ARTISTS HAVE RECORDED. SINCE THEN I'VE WORN BOTH CDs OUT AND I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THE NEW CD COMES OUT. AS A FELLOW ALABAMIAN I'M PROUD OF HIM. I HOPE MORE FOLLOW IN HIS FOOT STEPS. MAYBE THEN I'LL LET MY CD PLAYER COOL OFF AND START LISTENING TO COUNTRY RADIO AGAIN.
You can buy his music, and listen to it over and over. You can listen to him on the radio and you can watch him on tv specials, but until you have the opprotunity to see him perform live, you don't have a clue. When he walks out on stage, and gets right to business, what he is there for, to entertain with his music, he doesn't have to run around the stage, jump and holler. He can stand in one spot, and have the whole crowd mezmorized. I know that of the 12 times I have seen him this year, he has had my attention from begining to end. He is truley an awesome entertainer. I can hardley wait until the next concert... its like seeing him for the first time all over again...
NOV 13th spartanburg,sc i cant wait we are gonna raise hell in caroline.South Carolina style. stringbender loves and plays Jameys music
Fantastic review! Jamey's shows are just plainly, yet boldly, about the music!