The son of country music legend Johnny PayCheck is continuing the family tradition while forging his own path.
The first thing to get out of the way: No, that is not a typo. John PayCheck is not only carrying on the country music tradition of his father, the legendary Johnny PayCheck. He’s also continuing the spelling of his father’s name.
“Yeah,” he told us during a recent interview, “that was how my dad spelled it. He started spelling it that way in, oh, geez, the mid-‘80s, somewhere in there. And it’s just how I was always taught as a child that that’s how my name was spelled.”
Laughing, he added: “Yeah, it’s always been goofy, because whenever I try to correct anyone, they might say, “No, it’s spelled Johnny Paycheck. That’s how I’ve always seen it. “And I’m like, ‘Well, it’s my family. I know how my name’s spelled. It’s just what it is.’”
The second thing to get out of the way: While John is proud of his father’s musical legacy, he has forged his own path in the music industry.
He grew up surrounded by his father and other legends while starting out as a roadie for Johnny. After his father passed away in 2003, however, he explored other interests as a firefighter and a computer engineer. In the wake of 9/11, though, he put all of that on hold to enlist in the U.S. Army. He became an officer, going to Military Intelligence school, and later becoming an Army Aviator in Afghanistan.
“I became a platoon leader for Blackhawks for an aviation assault unit,” he told Forbes magazine last year, “then did security support.” (Even now, he remains a reserve Army officer.) Years after returning stateside, however, he ran into Shooter Jennings, son of Waylon Jennings, and Tyler Coe, son of David Allan Coe, at the opening night for an Outlaw Country exhibit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. He mentioned to them that it would be “kind of nice” to get back into music. Jennings and Coe strongly encouraged him to do just that. So he did.
We All Have a Story, his debut album, was released in 2021, and featured such rousing tunes as “Lone Stars” and “Honky-Tonk Blackout.” But more recently on his second album, More Days Behind, he turned more thoughtful and introspective with “Foolish Ways” — a song inspired by John’s own past struggles with depression, and which he feels is especially relevant for the start of Mental Health Awareness Month in May. C&I agrees, and we are proud to premiere the music video for “Foolish Ways.”
We recently talked with John PayCheck about his life and music. Here are some highlights from our conversation, edited for brevity and clarity.
Cowboys & Indians: A few years back, James Garner told us that after his experiences during the Korean War, where he was wounded and received a Purple Heart, it was very difficult for anyone in the entertainment industry to ever intimidate him. Given your experiences as a firefighter and in combat situations, do you share his attitude?
John PayCheck: Honestly, yes. In a big way. I don’t know if I got it from the Army or if I got it from firefighting. Firefighting was my first time around, and then I went into the Army. But yeah, after you’ve dealt with life and death situations, you’ve seen some of the ugly things that the world could throw at you, especially in warfare. And then in emergencies and things like that, when you’re with somebody on the worst day of their life. When you have to deal with anything in entertainment, it's more like, “OK, everybody. Just calm down. The world isn’t ending because of this thing that you think is a crisis.” And it’s like, “Look, we’re all going to be here tomorrow. No one’s shooting at us. We’re all going to be OK. I’m not going to lose a limb over somebody being upset that they don’t want to pay as much for a CD or whatever.”
And on top of that, I grew up around the music industry, and I worked with my dad on the road as a road manager and a guitar tech before that, and a roadie. But yeah, after doing what you do in the service, it’s not quite as big a deal anymore, and you don’t stress about it as much. Now, don't get me wrong, there are some days I stress about things, but then I have to bring myself to reality.
C&I: Yeah, no one is going to be shooting at you when you perform onstage.
PayCheck: [Laughs] Well, I hope not. I mean, sometimes you wonder. But no, I think I’ll be OK.
C&I: There’s an impressive variety to your music, ranging from the rousing “Honky-Tonk Blackout” on your debut album, We All Have a Story, to the contemplative ballad “Foolish Ways,” which could be interpreted as a song sung by someone who’s had one too many honky-tonk blackouts.
PayCheck: Yeah.
C&I: Do you think there is a connecting thread in your music?
PayCheck: I would say no in a way — except I am the thread, I guess. But when I go to sit down and write an album, it’s usually things I have ideas for. Like, I want a song like this, I want a song like that. I want a murder ballad, or whatever. And then I kind of start the creative process. Like, OK, let’s pick one here, work with it, and see what we can come up with.
Now with “Foolish Ways,” though, that one is pretty near and dear to me. I really love that song, the way it came to me and the way I wrote it. And it also has some personal stuff to it as well. [Laughs] Of course, not all of my songs are personal. “Black Out” isn’t exactly a personal venture. It’s just a fun song.
C&I: I read an interview with you a while back in which you were quoted as saying you were not only happy, you were proud to sing some of your father’s songs during a Grand Ole Opry show. But after that, you were like, “Look, I’m not a cover act. I’m not a tribute act. I’m me.” Was that a tough decision to make?
PayCheck: Yes, because I could go out and rerecord dad’s songs. I could go out and do tribute shows, and actually do quite well doing that because that is what people expect of me. But now I don’t want to do that. I’m an artist on my own, and I’m a writer, and I have something to offer, too. It may not be for the same fans of my dad, which is fine by me. But others will enjoy what I do, and that’s what I’m looking for.
Look, I have just as much right as anybody else to do my dad’s songs. But I looked at it as, well, I don’t want anybody to think I’m riding dad’s coattails. I don't want any of that negative attention because I’m here to do what the artist inside me craves. But I talked about this one time with Ned LeDoux [son of legendary country artist Chris LeDoux]. And the point he made was, “If you don’t do your dad’s songs, who is?” And I was like, “Well, that’s a good point.” And people do want to hear those things. So we have made a change this year, and I’ll be doing a little bit more of my dad’s songs in the show.
But, again, it’s not a tribute act. I mean, there’s just as many of my songs as there is his in the show. And there’s some stuff I don't feel like I sing as well as he did, so I’m not going to do those. Yeah, it was a tough choice. But here we are.
