It’s so easy to get caught up in the hype about Jamey Johnson as the ‘savior of real country music.’  Honestly, if you asked him if he thought of himself that way, he’d give an ‘awe shucks’ response and he has once told me that country music is the music ‘that makes my blood boil.’  Still, to claim that anyone is the savior of country music is folly as it does nothing but set a bar for an artist extremely high and it’s unlikely to ever be met. 

So with that in mind we get at Jamey’s true lead single for The Guitar Song – a 25 song opus due this fall – after teasing fans with “My Way To You” and “Macon” two songs that never really felt like they were the kind of song to get radio interested in the album.  “Playin’ The Part” has that tongue-in-cheek humor that was found in Jamey’s previous work, particular songs like “Mowin’ Down The Roses.”  The production of “Playin’ the Part” places the song firmly in between the honky tonk era of Hank Sr and the country rock era favored by Hank Jr.  In fact, “Playing the Part” is something that would fit well on any of Hank Jr.’s albums from the mid 1980s to the present.  Jamey’s voice is clear and up front (like a good country song should be) but the band is crystal clear as well and there are multiple solos during the instrumental breakdown that rounds out the single and it’s something that radio is likely to cut out as they’re not wont to play lyric-less instrumentals these days. 

With this single Jamey’s admirably aiming at radio success with something that should at least have somewhat of a shot at getting on playlists due to fans wanting to hear Jamey on the dial and the fact that he’s a high-profile ‘buzzworthy’ artist.  Will this mean the song is ultimately a hit single that gets Top 10 like “In Color” did?  No.  It’s likely not a Top 10 hit but it should at least break the Top 40 with an outside shot at Top 20. 

Jamey Johnson’s image that has helped in cultivating that ‘savior of real country music’ idealism is certainly something that could help him here as “Playin’ the Part’” doesn’t really sound like anything else on country radio.  It’s “Outlaw” in terms of that regard and Jamey’s artistic sensibility to write and record albums outside of a traditional recording model.  His ‘unkempt’ look also may be unappealing to some folks at radio but do people actually ‘see’ the radio?  If the music is truly what matters, “Playin’ the Part” will make the Top 20 and possibly the Top 10 but in today’s visual culture a ‘pretty’ artist with MOR music seems to have a better shot than an artist who is unafraid to be different from the accepted norm.