A new song is coming from Jamey Johnson and Ronnie Dunn! The two singers announce the release of “Never Gonna Be,” out on September 12. Dunn penned the song with Terry McBride 15 years ago, when Johnson’s career was just beginning. To have Dunn now on the song with Johnson is a full-circle moment for him.
“It makes me think of my early days in Nashville, bringing my guitar downtown to play,” Johnson says. “Once I was playing Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and came back out and my 1986 Dodge had been towed. It reminds me of those days when everybody out there was working hard and trying to get noticed and write a better song and perform a version of it live.”
“Never Gonna Be” says in part, “New kid in town, he’s a stoner / Singing through a homegrown grin / Up on stage he’s a loner / Got a small band of outlaw friends / You can tell by his songs he’s done some living / Oh he’s danced with a heartache or two / Late night beer joint women / He’s out to walk in ole Hank’s shoes.”
The Story Behind Jamey Johnson and Ronnie Dunn’s “Never Gonna Be”
To record a song written about Johnson is one thing, but to have Dunn sing with him on the song is a dream come true for Johnson.
“It was awesome,” he says. “I never ever really knew what to do with it because I don’t think I knew he was pitching it to me to record. I don’t know what I thought at the time.
“I thought he nailed the concept as far as everybody coming to Nashville and it chews them up and spits them out. I guess I never did know which of those categories I fell into. Now I think I do: I’m a ‘never gonna be,’ and I’m OK with that,” he adds with a laugh.
Johnson opened for Brooks & Dunn 20 years ago. In 2010, Dunn and McBride wrote the song, inspired by Johnson’s own unique path in country music,
“It was back when Jamey was just coming on strong, maybe just before he’d had ‘In Color,’” Dunn recalls. “We were just looking at the new wave of outlaws coming into town.
“It’s like, ‘Oh boy! This is going to be fun!’” he ocntinues. “We just took off, thinking, ‘What would it be like?’ Listening to him in interviews, you’d get insights into people and what was going on with him. Man, we were excited! I came from a conservative place in West Texas, where you couldn’t have your hair over your ears in school. I thought, ‘Oh man, we’re gonna get to meet hippies finally!”
Johnson held on to “Never Gonna Be” all these years, waiting for the right time to finally bring the song to life.
“It was fun getting to hear the first notes that were played by the band and know we are finally doing this,” Johnson says. “It’s good that we got to cut it and I’m excited to put it out.”
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The Nashville Producer Jamey Johnson Honors With “Never Gonna Be”
Johnson waited so long to record “Never Gonna Be” that Dunn iniitally forgot about the song. But when Johnson teamed up with frequent collaborator, producer and songwriter Buddy Cannon, they decided to record “Never Gonna Be.” The tune may have been wirtten about Johnson, but he says it’s an ode to Cannon as well. Johnson and Cannon, along with Bill Anderson, wrote George Strait’s big hit, “Give It Away,” just part of how Johnson and Cannon’s careers have intertwined over the years.
It was Cannon who sent the song to Dunn first, the beginning of the star-studded collaboraiton.
“It was cool that all of this happened through Buddy,” says Johnson. “He is more than just a bridge between writers and artists and other producers and labels. He is a mentor to everybody I know. Buddy has probably the longest-lasting relationships in town with all of the artists. He seems to meet everybody early on in their careers and knows them all the way through. Everybody that I know who does anything in the country music business has got a great story to tell about Buddy Cannon.”
“He is one of the few people you will meet that nobody has anything bad to say about him,” he adds. “He is such a good honest person, which is astounding in our business!”
Pre-save “Never Gonna Be” here.
Photo Credit: Colton Chapman