Album Notes

He's been called country music's Jim Croce, a vagabond singer-songwriter with deep roots and an even deeper heart. Comparisons range from Hank Williams to Don Williams, from Woody Guthrie to Bob Dylan and Iris Dement. One fan described him as "truth...on a tractor." He draws material from his down-home experiences growing up in the deep South, and from his travels across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains of the American West. He attributes his raw, straight-ahead style to his songwriting heroes: Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark and Billy Joe Shaver, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and John Prine, Kris Kristofferson and Chris Knight. Paul Sanford referred to him as "the finest Texas songwriter the state of Georgia's ever produced." One thing's for sure: he's not somebody you're soon going to forget. And since he arrived in Nashville, country music's only gotten better.

Imagine a smoke-filled bar, dimly lit by a corner jukebox and neon reflecting off half-empty whiskey bottles. Consider the stories told by the eyes of a motley crowd of regulars, leaning on the bar and looking for the answers in the bottoms of their glasses. Put this scene to music and you've got "The Whiskey and the Highway," a cohesive collection of twelve brand-new original songs by country singer-songwriter John Williamson. Honky-tonks all over the world are about to get another heapin' helpin' of real country music from one of Nashville's best. John's first record left the critics speechless, scrambling for words and this one's sure to do it again.

"The Whiskey and the Highway" was produced in Nashville by veteran guitar-slinger Jody Harris, of Kenny Chesney and John Michael Montgomery fame. Jody played drums, bass and Fender telecaster, surrounding John's acoustic guitar and vocals with the purest country soul. Add to that the dynamic dobro of Johnny B. Bellar, the fine fiddle and magic mandolin of Tim Lorsch, and the outstanding steel guitar of country legend Lloyd Green, and you've got what some in Nashville are already calling one of the year's best releases.

"We took our time with this one," John says. "We spent well over a year recording and the songs, well they took me a lifetime to write." Like fine whiskey, good country music has to age and mature. And this album is ready to be consumed. Drink it in while you can. Let the aroma engulf you while the back of your throat gets the quenching it's needed for a long, long, time. Sit back on your stool and don't be in a hurry to get home. And when the last song is finished and the bottom of your glass is dry...order up one more of the same.