Joshua Hedley is “a singing professor of country & western,” he declares on his raucous and witty new album, Neon Blue. It might sound like a punchline, but it’s not. An ace fiddle player, a sharp guitarist, and a singer with a granite twang, he’s devoted his entire life to the study of this genre. Ask him about it and he’ll explain: “When all my friends went off to college, I went to Nashville. I was 19 years old playing honkytonks and getting an education.” His 2018 debut, Mr. Jukebox, showcased his deep knowledge of country’s history, in particular the beery ballads of the 1950s and ‘60s. His mentors were George Jones, Ray Price, and Glen Campbell, but his most remarkable accomplishment was putting his own spin on their style. Neon Blue, on the other hand, examines a very different, often forsaken era: the early 1990s. “The last bastion of country music,” says the professor, “was the early 1990s, roughly 1989 and 1996. You could turn on the radio and immediately know you’re hearing a country song. You could still hear steel guitar and fiddle. But there was a hard fork around 1996 or ’97, when country veered off into pop territory. Neon Blue asks, What if that fork had never happened? What if country kept on sounding like country?”

Neon Blue was released Friday, April 22nd via New West Records. The album is available to order here on limited edition, autographed Tennessee Exclusive Roberts’ Fried Baloney pink colored vinyl; Coke Bottle Clear colored vinyl—available exclusively at independent records stores; standard black vinyl; and limited edition autographed CD. Please note ONLY the TN exclusive colored vinyl & the CD are autographed by Josh.

Due to the special nature of this release, preorders are limited to one (1) per format, per customer / household.

Preorders are being shipped out from Grimey’s now, as of Friday, April 22nd; they are also available now for local pickup.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A 1. Broke Again 2. Country & Western 3. Old Heartbroke Blues 4. The Last Thing In The World 5. Down To My Last Lie 6. Free (One Heart)

SIDE B 1. Neon Blue 2. Bury Me With My Boots On 3. Found In A Bar 4. Let’s Make A Memory 5. Wonder If You Wonder 6. River In The Rain