RT JOHNSON

                                                               "Your Cheatin' Song" 

                                                                CCB Nashville

As CCB Nashville continues into the final quarter of the year with their bold #newmusicfriday initiative of releasing a new song every Friday throughout 2022 from one of the talented artists on their roster, a trend has been born that’s seen the label not only placing solid music from their artists in front of listeners week in and week out, but also defining the label as one of the most reputable independent sources in town.

RT Johnson, who broke through last year with “Feel Good Again,” has used the majority of his first 8 song releases this year to define his laid back, small-town, country charm by focusing on lyrics that offer a slower paced way of life, Mayberry type of good old-fashioned morals and values, American pride, and an overall reminder of what truly matters most.

With his newest release, “Your Cheatin’ Song,” Johnson taps deep into his country music cred to deliver his first slower paced, traditional styled song of the year, effectively presenting us with a side of his arsenal that we haven’t heard from him since “Your Love Won’t Let Me Cheat.”

“I’ve been up, and I’ve been down, I was lost but I got found,” opens the song and leads you to initially believe this could be one about positive redemption, before he the throws a curve ball on the very next lines when he sings, “I just can’t put the bottle down, cause I still have her memory to drown.” 

This unexpected swerve in the lyrics is the beginnings of what is essentially a song that recalls the days of country music being the type that sings of pulling up a barstool and staring into your half-full/half-gone glass of beer in somber depression over a love gone wrong.

Somewhat placing blame on himself in the second verse, he tells of how her past should’ve told him that she wasn’t the type who would make something last, which works so well to make the punch of the chorus impact that much more as he reveals in it that she’s cheated him.

With a few well-placed name/song checks, Hank Williams comes up in the chorus as Johnson sings of having the blues like ol’ Hank, while also referencing his hit song “Your Cheatin’ Heart. Combine that recall to one of Johnson’s influences with an interesting turn in the out of the song that sees him adding a yodel, something we haven’t heard from him much prior, and you get another intriguing release from RT Johnson that leaves you on the edge of your seat and waiting to see what he unleashes with his next song come October.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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