Joshua Hedley All Hat
Joshua Hedley’s latest album begins with either confession or charge.
On the title track, he calls out, “All hat.” The chorus responds, “No cattle.” And Hedley answers resolutely, “And that’s alright with me,” it’s a relief.
Across his output, Joshua Hedley has been caught up in that oft-troublesome and cold conflict between so-called country and Americana. (For an example, see the comment, “its a shame this is too country for country radio,” as @sooyoungstans writes below “Mr. Jukebox” on YouTube.) These are matters, if not of authenticity, then of tradition. Between that song on his first album and “Country & Western” on his second, Hedley has stuck himself at the center of this classificatory knot. And on All Hat, which pays homage to country swing, Hedley and his team—Ray Benson, past and present members of Asleep at the Wheel, and more—remain at this central question what country music means today.
At the outset, Hedley defuses the is-it-country-is-it-not question. It is, but instead of entertaining it, Hedley simply entertains, charging every one of these eleven songs with a spirit of life.
They swing. They dance. And they waltz on smoky floors.
As Hedley intones on the pleasures of hand-made biscuits or pines for the many joys and the complications of romance, steel guitars, fiddles, pianos, clarinets and more trade the lead lines all over the place.
This is an album that unabashedly celebrates mastery. Without pretense. As on “Hedliner Polka,” where Rory Hoffman whistles a piccolo player in Sousa march. All Hat is filled with such moments of sincere joy in the arrangement of sound and tradition.
And it’s out October 24 from New West Records. Grab your copy of All Hat here, and settle in for a fast-moving stream of great playing on fantastic songs.
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Show Review: Joshua Hedley 3rd & Lindsley at AmericanaFest 2022
All Hat was produced by Joshua Hedley and Ray Benson, with assistance of Sam Seifert. Hedley wrote all songs on All Hat, except for “Crawlin’ Home to You,” which he wrote with Brennen Leigh, and “Boogie Woogie Tennessee,” which Ernie Newton wrote in 1950.
It took a large and wonderful band of musicians to make All Hat. Joshua Hedley sang and played fiddle. David Sanger played drums. Lindsay Greene played bass. Floyd Domino played piano. Dave Biller played electric guitar and steel guitar. Ray Benson played the acoustic guitar. Flavio Pasquetto played the console steel guitar, while Jason Roberts and Dave Biller provided additional steel guitar on “Boogie Woogie Tennessee.” Jason Roberts picked the tenor banjo, the electric mandolin, the steel guitar, and bowed the fiddle. Lyon Graulty played clarinet and saxophone. Rory Hoffman played clarinet, squeezed the accordion, and whistled. Jason Roberts, Ray Benson, and Sam Seifert sang harmony.
This album was recorded, engineered, and mixed by Steve Bazur at The Bismeaux Barn. Andrew Dalton worked as an assistant engineer. Additional engineers included Jeremy Ferguson and Jordan Lehning. With additional recording taking place at The Duck and Battle Tapes Recording. John Baldwin mastered All Hat at Infrasonic Sound.