The Musical Box

jamey johnson. photo by james minchin.

It’s outlaw time at the Daniel Boone Pioneer Festival. No, the annual Labor Day weekend event, now in its 31^st year, has not skidded over to the wrong side of the proverbial tracks. But the headline act of the festival’s Sunday night finale concert, Jamey Johnson, certainly embraces the spirit of electric outlaw music that ushered Nashville into the ‘70s.

The Alabama born Johnson has been a frequent visitor to the top of the country charts as a writer. He co-penned the Trace Adkins hit Honky Tonk Badonkadonk and George Strait’s 41^st No. 1 single Give It Away. Those recordings, however, bear little resemblance to the music Johnson stirred up on his 2008 album That Lonesome Song - a record that has regularly and respectfully been compared to the early music of Waylon Jennings.

The literary human detail of Johnson’s music is, by contemporary country standards, pretty meaty stuff. Sure, his current My Way to You single is anthemic through and through with a storyline that traces a hapless romantic “going down the wrong road, living by the wrong code” to a sweeping, electric chorus. But like the nostalgic contours of In Color and the blue collar Jennings-style narrative of High Cost of Livin’ - the singles that established Johnson on country radio - the emotive impact of My Way to You never sounds coerced. It is as solid as the deeply studied Southern accented music that stirs underneath its storyline.

My Way To You is the first tune from Johnson’s as-yet-untitled third album, which is due out in November.

James Otto, who has shared the stage at Rupp Arena with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Hank Williams, Jr., will help round out the Sunday bill. A founding member of the renegade Nashville collective MuzikMafia, Otto scored a No. 1 hit in 2007 with Just Got Started Lovin’ You.

The Daniel Boone Pioneer Festival, of course, runs all weekend long. The fun kicks off with the event’s traditional street dance at 6:30 p.m. Friday, continues with art, crafts and food exhibits all day Saturday and Sunday and will be capped off by fireworks following the Sunday concert. But then, Johnson has a reputation for playing three hour shows. It might just be Labor Day itself by the time the skies explode over Winchester this weekend.

Jamey Johnson, James Otto and Uncle Lijah perform at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 6 at Lykins Park in Winchester as part of the Daniel Boone Pioneer Festival. Tickets are $5.  Children 8 and under will be admitted free. Gates open at 4 p.m. Call (800) 298-9105.