Jamey Johnson’s New Album, Midnight Gasoline, Releases On November 8

Toby Keith’s death significantly affected Jamey Johnson. For starters, the two artists were friends and collaborators who greatly respected each other.

But Keith’s death affected Johnson in another way. It motivated him to release a new album.

Johnson plans to release Midnight Gasoline on Friday, November 8. The project is the first solo studio album the “In Color” singer has released in 14 years.

Johnson has already released several of Midnight Gasoline‘s 12 tracks, including “Someday When I’m Old,” “Trudy,” and “Sober.”

MusicRow reported that Midnight Gasoline will be the first in a series of albums Johnson recorded at the famous Cash Cabin recording studio.

“I’ve always wanted to make an album there,” Johnson told the publication. “I went in with an album in mind, where we go in and cut and cut and cut. That is when I knew we were off to the races. This is more than an album; this is a series.“

How Toby Keith’s Death Motivated Jamey Johnson To Create & Release His New Album

During a recent interview with Billboard, Jamey Johnson shared that he and Toby Keith were writing a song together not long before Toby’s death.

“We were working on a song toward the end,” Johnson said. “I called him up one night and shared a few lines with him, and he added a few lines and we turned around and wrote this whole verse. We laughed a bunch…I thought, ‘This is great. There’s gonna come a time I’ll get out to Oklahoma or maybe he and I will meet up somewhere at a golf tournament, but we’ll have some time sit down and finish this thing up.’”

Keith, who was diagnosed with stomach cancer, always tried to ease Johnson’s mind. He recalls Keith telling him, “You don’t worry about me pal, I got this.”

So Johnson, like many country artists and fans, was shocked when Keith died on February 5, 2024.

Johnson doesn’t know what will happen to the things he and Keith started writing, but he’s leaving the door open.

“I know some time is probably going to go by, and I might break them back out and revisit them later on,” he said. “But I think right now, the friends of his that I would consider finishing those songs with are still hurting, and it’s probably not time to start trying to do that just yet.”

Keith’s death gave Johnson a wake-up call and pushed him to create and release a new solo album after his 14-year hiatus.

“When Toby passed away, it moved everything into high gear because I realized that that was the end of his discography, that we weren’t getting another Toby Keith record,” Johnson said. “And that’s what drove me to wanting to finish my own discography. It’s what made me understand that I’m nowhere near done, and so it’s time to get busy. After he passed away, I immediately started talking about this session and started trying to get all the particulars in order. It was time for me to get in the studio again.”

We’re sure Toby Keith is smiling down on his old friend Jamey Johnson as he prepares to release Midnight Gasoline in just a few short days. Listen to another one of the album’s tracks below.