SONG FEATURED ON SONGWRITER, THE NEW JOHNNY CASH ALBUM, CO-PRODUCED BY JOHN CARTER CASH AND DAVID “FERGIE” FERGUSON, WITH NEWLY RECORDED ARRANGEMENTS BY BAND OF MARTY STUART, DAVE ROE, PETE ABBOTT AND OTHERS
SONGWRITER AVAILABLE NOW VIA MERCURY NASHVILLE/UMe
Los Angeles – June 28, 2024 – In the powerful opening song, “Hello Out There” from Johnny Cash’s acclaimed new album, Songwriter (available everywhere now via Mercury Nashville/UMe), the late legendary musician and songwriter sounds as if he’s reaching out from the beyond concerned about mankind and the state of the world as he bellows, “Hello out there/This is planet Earth/Calling Calling Calling Calling Calling,” facilitating his own echoes, before continuing, “Hello out there/our net worth is/Falling Falling Falling Falling Falling.” As the “cleverly disguised gospel song” continues, as his son and album co-producer John Carter Cash describes it, the song crescendos with a glorious swirling of Marty Stuart’s spacey guitar licks, strings, steel guitar, pounding drums, the angelic backing vocals of Ana Cristina Cash and Harry Stinson, and Johnny’s prescient message of salvation, sonically falling somewhere between cosmic country and gospel. Recorded just before Johnny was recruited by U2 for Zooropa album closer, “The Wanderer,” the songs could be celestial cousins of sorts. “I believe dad wrote it about the Voyager spaceship sometime around when it launched,” said John Carter. “I remember him sitting in Cowboy Jack Clement’s office in the early ‘80s and singing it for him.”
“Hello Out There” debuts today with a stunning video directed by Matt Paskert (Morgan Wallen, Jason Aldean, Larry Fleet) and starring Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash’s youngest granddaughter, six-year-old Grace June Cash, the daughter of John Carter and his wife Ana Cristina Cash. In the black and white video, Grace sets off alone on an adventure and comes upon the Cash Cabin, Johnny’s hallowed sanctuary in Hendersonville, Tenn. where he wrote and recorded some of his final songs, and where Songwriter was produced. Inside the cabin she communes with the grandparents she never knew through family treasures, photos and Johnny and June’s personal belongings, including Johnny’s Bible and June’s banjolin. Johnny and June’s spirits are evoked through a variety of items such as Cash and Carter family fishing poles, Johnny’s desk from his office, his portable Ampex tape recorder and Martin Parlor guitar, June’s tackle box and her 1890’s Steinway upright piano. One of the final shots subtly shows a poignant family connection that has carried across multiple generations. “It’s a black and white video but right at the end of it you see you my daughter’s beautiful blue eyes that are just the same as my mother’s,” John Carter says. “I can’t help but cry every time I watch it.”
Watch/embed “Hello Out There”: https://JohnnyCash.lnk.to/HelloOutTherePR
Purchase/stream Songwriter: https://JohnnyCash.lnk.to/SongwriterPR
“Directing the video for ‘Hello Out There’ and the visuals for Johnny Cash’s Songwriter album was an unexpected and profound honor,” said Matt Paskert. “What truly set this project apart for me was our commitment to honoring the Cash legacy. We had the privilege of filming entirely on the Cash family’s property, starring Grace June Cash, who is a spitting image of her grandmother. The visuals are full of authenticity, showcasing many genuine Johnny Cash artifacts… from his personal Bible to original handwritten lyric sheets, and much much more. A heartfelt thank you to John Carter Cash, Ana Cristina Cash, Grace Cash and the entire Cash estate team for not only their trust, but also their involvement and support in bringing the Cash Songwriter legacy to life on screen. The opportunity to collaborate with such a talented team at UMe, Mercury Nashville, Sandbox Succession, and Taillight made the entire creative process seamless.”
Songwriter has been receiving raves around the globe, including notable reviews from the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, MOJO, Uncut, No Depression and many others:
“a poignant journey into a defining moment of Cash’s musical legacy. And who doesn’t love to hear previously unheard material from the Man in Black?” – Associated Press
“The sounds on this new album pull off the neat trick of being contemporary for us now while also recalling what Johnny Cash LPs sounded like during the heart of his recording years. That’s a credit to producers John Carter Cash, his son, by now long-experienced in the studio, and David ‘Fergie’ Ferguson, a longtime engineer who’d frequently worked with Johnny… a welcome addition to the collection.”
– Wall Street Journal
“Cash’s songs sparkle on set recorded before Rick Rubin-assisted renaissance” – MOJO
“The album may be called Songwriter, but he truly shines here as a singer” – Uncut
“Songwriter presents, once again, Cash’s gifts for evoking the raggedness and euphoria of human emotions, often with humor, and probing the depths of religious and social injustices and the power of redemption. This powerful album adds more luster to Cash’s enduring legacy.” – No Depression
“The songs are true to Cash’s sound and add layers to his discography without sounding
inauthentic or manufactured” – The Independent
“a very welcome surprise indeed” – The Arts Desk
“Johnny Cash was a great songwriter, on top of everything else he’s famous for — and here are 11 colorful, memorable points of proof. – Grammy.com
The first single, “Well Alright” continues to climb up the Americana Radio chart where it was #1 most added in its first week and is currently #15 for the second week in a row. Upon release the boisterous song was featured in TheNew York Times’ Playlist and received four-stars from The Guardian, who hailed it as, “A jovial tale of a hook-up in a launderette that ultimately leads to marriage, filled with winking lines – ‘I opened up the dryer and I set it on soft and light / She said ‘be careful with my silk and lace’ and I said ‘well, alright’” – it arrives decorated with twanging reverb-heavy electric guitar, upright bass and Cash’s preferred boom-chicka-boom rhythm,” adding “this fun, lightweight song is a long way from the moody recordings with Rick Rubin he soon turned towards.”
Songwriter spawned out of demos that Johnny recorded in 1993 at LSI Studios in Nashville. John Carter, who played guitar on the original sessions, and co-producer David “Fergie” Ferguson, stripped the songs back to just Johnny’s powerful, pristine vocals and brought in a handpicked group of musicians that played with Johnny, including guitarist Marty Stuart and the late bassist Dave Roe, along with drummer Pete Abbott and several others, to the Cash Cabin, where they recorded new parts for the songs and reinvigorated them. John Carter and Fergie also brought in a couple of special guests for some of the songs – Dan Auerbach plays electric guitar on “Spotlight” and Vince Gill adds his vocals to “Poor Valley Girl.”
Returning the focus to Johnny’s own songwriting, the 11-track collection, Songwriter, showcases the breadth of his writing, one that has always represented the great expanse of the human condition: there are songs of love, family, sorrow, beauty, spiritual salvation, survival, redemption, and of course, some of the lighthearted humor Johnny was known for, all sung in his unmistakable, trademark, resonant voice.
Songwriter is available now to stream and download, as well as on CD and a variety of vinyl options, including standard black and several limited-edition color variants.
JOHNNY CASH – SONGWRITER TRACKLISTING
CD/DIGITAL
1. Hello Out There
2. Spotlight
3. Drive On
4. I Love You Tonite
5. Have You Ever Been to Little Rock?
6. Well Alright
7. She Sang Sweet Baby James
8. Poor Valley Girl
9. Soldier Boy
10. Sing It Pretty Sue
11. Like A Soldier
VINYL
Side A
1. Hello Out There
2. Spotlight
3. Drive On
4. I Love You Tonite
5. Have You Ever Been to Little Rock?
Side B
1. Well Alright
2. She Sang Sweet Baby James
3. Poor Valley Girl
4. Soldier Boy
5. Sing It Pretty Sue
6. Like A Soldier
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