Jamey Johnson & Ronnie Dunn To Release Duet, “Never Gonna Be,” Which Ronnie Wrote About Jamey 15 Years Ago

The duo we NEED.

This Friday, September 12th, Jamey Johnson and Ronnie Dunn will release their duet “Never Gonna Be,” which Dunn co-wrote with Terry McBride about Johnson about 15 years ago, just as the Alabama native’s career was first taking off.

Johnson says it brings him right back to his early days in Nashville, hauling his guitar downtown to play at the legendary bar Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge:

“It makes me think of my early days in Nashville, bringing my guitar downtown to play. 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.”

Of course, the concept of being a young artist trying to make a name is something many people can relate to, and Jamey says it’s “awesome” that Ronnie would write such a great some about him, but he didn’t know what to do with it for a long time:

“It was awesome! 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.”

Johnson and Dunn have known each other for about 20 years now, having first crossed paths in 2005 when Jamey opened shows for Brooks and Dunn. In 2010, Ronnie and his co-writer, McBride, penned the song in Saskatchewan, Canada, while on a break in Brooks & Dunn’s tour.

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Ronnie says it was right before “In Color” took off, and he and McBride were talking about all of the “young outlaws” in town who were looking

“It was back when Jamey was just coming on strong, maybe just before he’d had ‘In Color.’ We were just looking at the new wave of outlaws coming into town. It’s like, ‘Oh boy! This is going to be fun!’ 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!”

Jamey has been waiting patiently for the right moment to release this song for over ten years, and after putting out his record Midnight Gasoline last year, the first in 14 years up until that point, and he says now feels like the right time to put it out.

Produced by Buddy Cannon, Jamey says the song also serves as a tribute to him, as Cannon has been a mentor to him for years, and even helped him write George Strait’s award-winning hit “Give It Away.”

Jamey and Cannon met in 2001, and Jamey says his reputation precedes him, calling him a “good honest person,” a hard thing to come by int he music industry, indeed:

“It was cool that all of this happened through Buddy. 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 is such a good honest person, which is astounding in our business!”

Amen to that, Jamey.

It will be great to have two such incredible vocalists on one song, because Johnson and Dunn are up there with Chris Stapleton in terms how great they are as not only writers, but singers.

They’re truly to of the best in the business, and I can’t wait to hear what they’ve cooked up, especially knowing the full story behind it… what a cool, full-circle moment for Jamey to finally get to release this song with someone he opened for many years ago and has looked up to for a long time.

And speaking of Jamey, he is the most recent guest on the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast, and you can listen to or watch the full episode below.

We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts.

Cheers, y’all.

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