Theres a lantern, and theres a roman candle, Johnson tellsRolling Stone.
Roman candles go to the top really fast and then they fall.
Ive never wanted to be a roman candle.
Johnson communes with fans during a recent concert in Philadelphia.Jay Trevino*
Johnson is leading the charge.
That meant a lot, Johnson says.
My manager was maybe a little apprehensive wondering if we were doing a stadium show too quickly.
But I was just like,we gotta do it.
When it sold out so quickly, I called him, and he goes, Whats up?
and I said, I freakin told you so!
I already knew what we had, Johnson says of recordingLeather.
Most of the time, you have hopes: I hope people like it.
I hope we have some singles.
I hope that these songs respond.
I hope that the artwork didnt seem hokey.
But withLeather, it was I know this is gonna be a big record.
I know theres gonna be some hit singles.
The easiest way to deafen success is to be arrogant about it but confidence breeds success.
Those two songs, in particular, illustrate how far Johnson has come as an artist.
I just threw the flag up and said, Send em to me.
One of those songs was Til You Cant, written by Ben Stennis and Matt Rogers.
The playing field is even, Johnson says of rodeo.
My friend Charly Crawford entered us in a team roping to benefit military veterans and their families.
It was like playing one-on-one with Michael Jordan.
Nobody cared that Id just sold out a stadium.
Not thinking about any other thing, be it music or rodeo, is a rarity these days.
Johnson and his wife, Brandi, have two daughters.
One moment, hes country musics reluctant superstar, the next hes a husband and parent.
What I have in my mind now is that switch.
Its one or the other.
McBryde is a seasoned pro, but the arena experience was a new one for the 24-year-old Keith.
Thats what is cool about it.
You could go back to snap tracks, or you could do this therealway.
Hes doing it the real way.
After Keiths set, Johnson meets him in the hall where the two share a handshake and a joke.
Instead, the showstopper comes when he halts the concert to thank first responders and military service members.
Earlier in our interview, Johnson talked at length about the divisiveness thats apparent in the U.S.
He says that Americans are too quick to act out when things dont go their way.
So now were gonna go burn cities down or were gonna go riot here.
Or were gonna make Black hate white, or gay hate straight, and all this other stuff.
Ive gotten so tired of it, he continues.
We have the greatest opportunities out of anyone in this entire world, because were Americans.
Guess what, man?
Who cares who you voted for?…
To Johnsons credit, none of this comes off as a front to woo fans.
You always want to outdo the last one, and outdo the last one after that.
Now, weve gotta stay ahead of the wave.
