Tony Mantor's : Almost Live..... Nashville - John Paycheck blazes his own trail while honoring his father's legendary legacy.

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

John Paycheck, son of outlaw country legend Johnny Paycheck, joins us to share his journey as a country music artist balancing his father's legacy with his own unique sound and style. We explore the surprising complexity behind Johnny Paycheck's public image, getting an insider perspective on the man behind the music while learning how John is forging his own path in today's challenging music landscape. • Carrying the legacy of a famous father while managing public perception • Creating his own musical identity with '90s country sound and Texas swing influences • Balancing touring life with family responsibilities including three children • Navigating the music industry as an independent artist in the streaming era • Working to restore and release previously unheard Johnny Paycheck recordings • Finding an audience for traditional country sounds in today's market • Using lessons from his father's career while making different business and life choices You can find John Paycheck online at johnpaycheck.com and on all social media platforms (look for the blue check mark). His music is available on Spotify, YouTube, and all major streaming services.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

in the entertainment industry has enabled me to work with a diverse range of talent. Through my years of experience, I've recognized two essential aspects. Industry professionals, whether famous stars, or behind-the-scenes staff, have fascinating stories to tell. Secondly, audiences are eager to listen to these stories, which offer a glimpse into their lives and the evolution of their life stories. This podcast aims to share these narratives, providing information. on how they evolve into their chosen career.

We will delve into their journey to stardom, discuss their struggles and successes, and hear from people who help them achieve their goals. Get ready for intriguing behind-the-scenes stories and insights into the fascinating world of entertainment. Hi, I'm Tony Mantor. Welcome to Almost Live Nashville. Joining us today, we're honored to have John Paycheck,

son of the one and only outlaw legend, Johnny Paycheck, from carrying the torch of his dad's, iconic sound to blazing his own trail as a country music artist. He's a combat veteran, farmer, and a devoted family man. John's story is one of grit, heart, and raw talent. So grab a seat, turn up the volume, and let's dive into the life and music of John Paycheck. Thanks for coming on. Yeah, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Oh, it's my pleasure. So I think everybody knows now that you are Johnny Paycheck's son. Your dad had a lot of big hits.

He did a lot of big things. What's it like when people come up to you realizing that you're his son? What's the reaction? Well, well, it's always interesting because you have kind of two camps of it. One is some people didn't like him at all, you know, because of the ruckus behavior and how he acted and all that kind of stuff. And then you have another camp that, yeah, they appreciate the artist that he was and who he was. And then I guess you kind of have a third camp, too, where it's somebody who knew him or met him.

They really liked him and appreciated him. Dad's willing to give you the shirt off his back. He was a nice guy. So unless he crossed him. Well, that is the great thing about perception. You have this perception of someone. You think they're a badass. You finally meet him.

And they're really nice people. Yep, 100%. And I am actually trying to get more of that information. out there. I'm trying to, you know, write articles and I'm looking at trying to maybe do up a book compilation of articles, things like that, that shows more of who he was that people didn't get to see that often, right? We're talking about being at CMA Fest this year. I don't know if we're going to or not, but if we do, we're looking at setting up a booth that will have some of the history of dad. And a lot of that's going to be, you know, we have to obviously touch on the obvious.

Sure. There's also the things where, like, photos and things. like that of dad that aren't who you would expect. Him as my dad, him as a husband, him as that country artist that was a writer, things like that. You know, I mean, he was an amazing writer and I don't think, I don't think he gets a lot of credit for it, but he gets some, I get it. And it's always in the, but it's always that, uh, that niche. You know what I mean? Yeah, I get that.

Crowd that knows, you know, some of the older tunes and things like that. And then that he wrote on a lot of things and that he, you know, was a harmony singer and all those other stuff that people just, yeah, only a select group of people know. And I'd like that group to get bigger so that everybody knows who he was. Yeah, and if they don't know, he's a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Yes, he was. He was inducted in 90, well, I'll tell you, I should remember this, but it was like, I think it was 96, 96, 97. Yeah.

Yeah, that's awesome. Have you had a chance or have you gone backstage, talked to Bill and the people and reminisced about it? Yeah, well, I actually got to be on the Grand Ole Opry. Nice. I got to do my debut last year now. It was intimidating and awesome at the same time. That's the beauty of it. Standing in that circle is scary, but it's cool.

A whole bunch of emotions that I had when I got out there that I didn't expect I was going to have. Yeah, no, I've been in the ground all over quite a bit. There's other artists I visit with and things like that. It's always nice to just talk about stuff like that from when I was a kid and being around there and talking the older artists. But a lot of them are fading away. They're passing on. and it's running out of those people to talk to. Yes, unfortunately, that's so true.

Now, tell us about yourself. I hear you're creating your own little entourage. I am. It is an entourage, I'll tell you. Now, it's got a good group of guys in my band, and we're working on touring a lot more this year and more each year. And I've got two albums out that we're kind of riding on right now, and got four videos coming up this year.

And there's a lot going on, a lot of movement with my stuff and with dad's stuff. And yeah, we're just trucking along. That's awesome. It's great to see that you're doing well. I'll tell you, one thing that's different this time around, this time around for me in the music business. I used to be a road manager for dad and everything. And things have changed a lot since, you know, the 90s, right? Boy, I tell you, there's a lot more on my plate than ever because we have decided we're doing it all independent.

We're doing everything ourselves. That's also because of watching my dad, how some of things he did. And I can't say I would make some of those same decisions that he made, but business decisions or decisions otherwise. Yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot between booking and, you know, being your own label in a way to, you know, taking care of everything that you have to take care of to put an album out now. It's easier and it's harder all at the same time for an elegant independent artist. Everyone says, you know, oh, it's great. You control everything.

and you also can make sure your music gets out there. But yeah, there's thousands and thousands of people putting music out now, and it's hard to get rise above and people hear your stuff. Yeah, it's tough. I mean, you're fighting the major labels. Oh, yeah. That makes it a harder thing to do because you don't have the strong arm

and the relationships they have over the last 50 years. The tough part, I'm sure as you know, is streaming. So are you trying to get more physical product out there? things that you could sell at your performances, or are you pushing the streaming because, as you know, physical product makes more money out there unless they're actually downloading the songs? No, we're actually going along with the blow of the river right now.

We're trying to push, as much as we can with streaming. I'm not, you know, a kid, a younger kid, so probably not as in tune with TikTok and everything else that I should be. I am pretty well in tune, but yeah, we're trying to use the TikTok front. A lot of it's just fine any time. to make videos and do all that kind of stuff too. But streaming is what you got to do. And you're not going to make much money off of that either.

There's no golden parachute for a writer. I write all my stuff, right? I write on my own music with a co-writer on some things. I like writing. Dad liked writing. He gave me that, right? That talent or whatever it is. Yeah, there's no golden parachute now.

If you get one hit, it doesn't matter. And a hit now is just, did it go viral or did it go strong on one of the streaming platforms? But yeah, there's no more. money in it. That's for sure. And if you're trying to make a living at it, it's extremely hard. But the touring is about where you can try to make a living there. But that's hard too, because COVID hurt the industry. And yeah, it's nearly impossible to make a fair wage out there, too. You want to blame it on the venue, but it's really not the venue's fault either. Not all of them, but the majority of them, they're just trying to survive. Everyone is just trying to survive right now

and make art. Yeah, I never saw anything destroy the music business like COVID did that year. Even after they said that it's gone away, the venues weren't getting the ticket sales like they were used to doing before COVID. Yeah. When the venues only had half to three quarters full capacity and they were used to almost full capacity, that's a huge amount of loss for the venue to absorb. 100%. And of course, it hurts the artist as well. So let's shift gears a little. What would you classify your style as? Any influences from your dad on that as well?

There's some, but I have a hard time classifying myself. I think it's more 90s, country-ish, but with Texas swing thrown in there as well. Because I like, you listen to one full album, it's kind of just a little bit of a ride through different feelings of country music. You know, like on the first one you had kind of a Kenny Chesney, that tropical feel to a country song. Then on another one you have a blues feel. And then on another one, you've got, you know, really, really Texas swing type sound with a Western feeling stuff. because and I like, I'm a fan of like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry and all those guys. I really am and my dad influenced me with that. And so I've loved all that kind of country Western style music.

So there's more of that, but then at the same time, you'll find some 90s style stuff too because when I grew up. I like George Strait. I follow a lot of his examples and how he's done things in business and how he did things starting out. Oh yeah. He did some great things. Oh, yeah. We had a conversation one time about how he did his business. Yep.

Back when the major labels was the big thing, he was signed by a major label at the time, and he did a few things that most people wouldn't have done. Yep. That made the difference in the star that he became. Oh, I can, yep, he was not a fool at all. So true. Yeah, no. And then, yeah, you'll find kind of a mix of that.

But if I had to just pinpoint it, it would definitely be 90s country-ish feeling with some very Western influence in a lot of things. Yeah, that's great. So what's coming up next? You got a single coming off this, more albums. What's your plans moving forward on this? This year, it's the videos. We did the album last year called More Days Behind,

and the big single that was More Days Behind. This year, we're doing the videos. We recorded them all, we're ready to be put out, and we're looking at basically release strategy for them. But I think my publicist is JWA Media, a great guy, Jason. I think we're talking about, like, I thought we were talking about,

beginning the campaign at February. My computer is my memory, so I always have to have that in front of me to remember what I'm doing next because there's just so much chaos. I got three kids and everything else, and yeah, so. That's okay.

That's what makes you connect a lot better with your fans. Oh, yeah. When people can look at you, say to themselves, hey, he's just like me. Only makes music for a living. Yeah, I understand that.

I'm just trying to, or make my wave through the day like everyone else. So you're concentrating on your videos now. Yeah. What platforms are you planning on promoting them to? They'll be on YouTube and they'll be out in the media as well. Like, it's not, I guess not CMT anymore, is it? They change so often now, but I know what you mean.

You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But they'll be going out through those avenues on social media and everywhere else. And it'll boring side of things. it'll be strategized how they're going to do it. Yeah, that's great. I was looking at your website, and it looks like you've got a fair amount of shows already lined up for this year.

That's awesome. Yeah, we do. We're still negotiating on some other ones right now, but I think right now we're probably going to shoot for about 50 shows for the year, maybe less than that. I don't know. Kind of trying to ease into things.

It's mainly because, you know, I got a family, and I'm trying to make sure I'm there for my kids and everything this year. as we slowly get ready to, geez, I can't even think about it. We got kids that are going to go to college in the next couple of years. Yeah, that's a lot to think about for sure. So, yeah, I know, I hate it.

But so we got that and then my band, you know, those guys, they got families too. And we're trying to just ease through into things. And we've all agreed, you know, hey, if it takes off really well with booking, we'll make adjustments and do what we need to do to make sure we satisfy all that. But yeah. That's great. family does come first. So with all the things that you have going on, what does your average day look like? You're trying to put everything together. You're also trying to make sure that everything fits.

You're trying to get all these things done because you are independent. Yep. So you just can't walk down the hall and tell somebody to, hey, get this done. Yeah. So up at 7 o'clock in the morning, and that's not an Army thing. I hated getting up in the Army. But 7 o'clock in the morning to get the kids off to their band practice because they're in right now, they're in a stage band right now. So I get my two girls off for that one. Then the next one goes after that. Yeah, then I start usually going through emails to try to follow up with venues and then other music pieces. Get distracted. Work on something else that I wasn't planning on working on for the day for a couple hours.

Come back to what I'm supposed to do. I know that feeling all too well. My wife is working at home right now. I usually hang out with her for a couple minutes. And then it's back to booking, turning phone calls, all that kind of. It's a boring day. Then I try to take at least an hour to set aside and go through any writing ideas that I have as far as musical writing. And then we're looking at stuff for the new show.

I'm still trying to get some pieces nailed down for how we're going to perform the new show this year. I'm also looking for we lost a bass player. I'm trying to find a new bass player who went off to do other things. So, I mean, it's constantly like that. And then, yeah, and some days I've got to go pick up the kids. Some days I've got to take the middle of the day to do something else. Something busted in the house and I've got to go fix that. So, I mean, that's pretty much how it runs.

Now, it changes once we get to the spring because that's when we start touring. And I'm gone from home quite a minute. So, I mean, yeah, we start touring in May, usually. And then we tour all the way until about October, November. And that reminds me of dad, right? Because I'm gone back, you know, all that kind of stuff. Once we get off of November, you know, it's, I try to cut things. down or slow it down because then it's time to start focusing back on family and reset for writing

for the next year because next year we'll be in the studio in the very early part of the year. I have it all laid out because there's an Army officer and that's kind of what I do, plan things. But it doesn't always work. We always know it goes to the heck once we, once we start. Bumps in the road. Yeah, pretty much. So that's what you got. Yeah, been there, done that, as they say. Now, instead of going for the best advice, let's go for the worst advice. You've got people all around, your dad and everything. What was some of the worst advice that you might have ever gotten?

Ooh, worst advice. Oh, man, that's a good one. Worst advice. I've been pitched some really rough songs. Yeah. That's all of us. I'm stumped on that one. The worst advice, I don't know.

I would, oh, you know what? Okay. Yeah. So I did have a gentleman to remain anonymous to, yeah, was telling me that, you know, the streaming thing, it's going to be a fad, it's going to go away. It had a lengthy discussion with him on this. I'm just saying, man, I don't think that's true. I did, in the early part of my life as an adult, I worked for IBM and was a computer engineer.

I remember seeing Napster and all that happened, that whole nightmare thing. And I was just like, I pretty sure. It's going to stick around. It makes music pretty easy for the consumer. Well, he was adamant. He's like, nah, it can't survive because of this. And he had a whole model, like what he was saying. I'm like, well, I don't think that makes sense.

But okay, and sure enough, here we are. And this is where music is, you know. Now, what I am surprised is, I'm surprised. Like, Vinals made a comeback. Yeah, it has. Yeah. But I think it's that tangible piece. Some people really like that.

Yeah, it's about $30 for an album now. I know. Yeah. Yeah, I would have never, never imagined that. If anything, I thought maybe CDs would make a little bit of a comeback, and they seem to be too, which is weird, but yeah. So with the way the music has changed over the years, I mean, you're a 90s guy.

Your dad was very traditional. Music has just changed so drastically over the last 10 to 20 years. Do you watch the award shows and, of course, the Grammys? No, I don't pay any attention to the award. Word shows, they usually frustrate me. And hearing the news today, I'm from what happened to the Grammings. I'm pretty glad I didn't watch. Yeah, I was just kind of interested if you pay attention to them because it does show the variety of the music. And of course, country music has changed really dramatically over the last 10 to 20 years as well. Yeah. It has, and that's fine. So how do you feel

going out with your style of music, with the music that's out there now, how do you feel that you fit in, and next, when you do get out there, how is the audience reacting to what you're doing? I am in an unusual niche right now, which is weird to say, but I'm in this unusual niche right now.

You see a little bit of it with like Zach Topp, and some of them where that sound is there. But for the most part, it's still that newer country feel on a lot of things. And then you get hiccup and all this other stuff that's out there, right? That is also what a lot of the younger crowd that they respond to and like, right? The funny thing is, I've been at shows where it's a mixture of old and young people. And when we play what we play, and we do some covers, right? But I do stuff by like Ray Price.

They don't even know who Ray Price is. And that's always a challenge because you don't know how they're going to respond to that. But we do it anyway because it's good. And they usually respond really well and they like it. And then what a fascinating is you'll have two Cowboys standing over here who they're mouthing the words to it. And I'm like, they're 23 years old. How do they know these songs? I love this.

But it's surprising, it's still out there. But yeah, as far as what we do and our sound, but it's not as like venues straight up that have told us. So like, your music for older people, we don't have an older crowd. And it's like, well, they might like us and they can dance to it. Trust me. It's like people were dancing to it in the 70s, 80s, and 90s and 60s and everything else. So I don't understand how they won't.

But okay. And our show's energetic because we know we got to do that. I can't just, dad would just basically stand there and sing, right? And I got a, you know, we have a few points where I do some of that, but then there's a few points where I'm moving around and doing things. And it's just you have to be more of an entertainer a little bit. But yeah, the sound, it's a niche right now. It really is.

And there's some places that they don't want you. And they're country bars. And it's like, okay, well, that's cool, whatever. My demographics that are on streaming, the majority is people my age, you know, midlife. And then we have a dip and then we have a boost of younger people. So I don't know. I don't know what's going on. And that's the thing.

Your labels, they don't know what's going on. either because it's unusual what's happening in the market right now because people have you know we want to use the argument that people like me that are disgruntled about country music we want to use the argument that they're being forced fed by the labels nobody listen not very many people are listening to terrestrial radio there's not as much right and it doesn't affect your career as much podcasts satellite radio if any radio right satellite radio and then you know streaming that affects who our listeners are and what we're doing, because it's the digital media.

And the only real control the labels have over that kind of stuff is they do somewhat with the advertising, things like that within the streaming realm and getting their music pushed forward to recommend. But people aren't real. I don't think people are being forced fed as much as they are following trends. I went totally off the different direction there, sorry.

No, that's fine. I love talking about this because this is my world. I think radio is still relevant. It's just not as relevant as it once was. If it wasn't, then major labels wouldn't be paying the promotional money they pay to keep promoting to radio. I think a certain amount of people are still following the charts and using it to drive sales, but they just use social media and all the other platforms to complement it. They have the press and the media, so they still do force feed quite a bit. even though it's not as big a push as it was on radio.

But Spotify, Apple, all the other platforms, they give the independent an opportunity to get out there and the listener can find new things that they wouldn't hear before because they were being forced-fed a certain playlist from radio. Yeah. I agree with the press of the media 100% on that because that's where, especially in an internet world, everybody does see like, oh, Beyonce's got this out.

hyped that up and that feeds her base and then any other newer country artist who has heard of her or not a country fan that has heard of her things like that right so yeah yeah yeah i i see it and i i get it now did i hear that you was doing something with the old masters that your dad had yeah yeah we we have six songs that are from a pitch that he was doing to a label and it's stuff that he never you never released, he never did anything with, and never went anywhere. The only problem with it is the tapes were degraded somewhat. So I've got him in a studio. We're trying to store some of that. He's working with some of the guys to do that as well to get it to sound, to be able to the best sound we can out of it, the best quality, and still have it sound retro as well. Yeah, and it's good stuff too. There need songs. Yeah, we're waiting to see how many we get out of it. I think we're going to get at least five. And then, yeah, we'll end up kind of release as an EP. Hopefully this year, I pretty sure we're going to try for like third quarter of this year to release that. It's cool too. It was neat hearing dad voice on something I'd never heard, right? Yeah, I think that's great. It's always nice to be able to do something like that, especially where's your dad. So let's tell the listeners

a little more about you and where they can find you in the future. Well, don't know me. To find where I'm at, all that fun stuff, it's easy. It's just john paycheck.com. And then on social media, and I'm the one with a little blue check mark, you know, just look up John paycheck and it's not the older guy. It's me. Yeah, because if I ever thought I was going to do music, I didn't really think about the fact that our names were so similar. But, uh, yeah, so I actually got into a mess with a gentleman online. People misunderstand that I'm not copying Johnny Paycheck. I'm his son. So, yeah, so. But anyway, yeah, you can find me on Instagram and I'm on Facebook and TikTok and all, all those major platforms. And as far as music, yeah, I'm John Paycheck and I'm out on Spotify. We're

really trying to build numbers on Spotify and YouTube. So, yeah, it's a 90s sound. It's good music. It's fun. Yeah, I don't know. Don't know what else is saying. Yeah, I know. That really covers it well.

You know, you've got a great heritage there, something to carry on. Plus, you can create your own style. Yep. Create your own image and what you want to be. Yep. Your dad definitely influenced you. I can't think of a better legacy to have moving forward. Yeah, yeah.

No, it's an interesting one for sure. It's a good story. Because people always assume I was going to be this wild, you know, child. And yeah, I went totally different. I always tell people if Dad wore a black cowboy hat, I wear the white one. Because, yeah, I went the whole following the law and trying to do the right things. Yeah, I get that. But you know, there's nothing wrong with what you're doing for sure.

Yeah, no, there's nothing wrong with it. The good thing is there's a lot that's the same. He influenced you. and all of that creates you. Yes, sir, it does. But yeah, no, we definitely out on the road and stuff too. Shows, we're on bands in town if you're trying to find where we're playing. And then our show is not a tribute show.

Some people mistake that. We're not a Johnny Paycheck Tribute show, right? But that said, I know people want to hear some of the songs. I kind of do the same thing, kind of like Ned Ledoo does with his dad. I play some of Dad's songs in the show, and we do the bigger ones that people like. and then it's mixed in with a lot of my own stuff, and then a few covers here and there that are stuff that should like, if you like, got your music, I hope.

Yeah, that sounds really good. Well, this has been great. Great conversation. Glad you could come on. I'm glad you had me. It's a good time. Yeah, my pleasure. Thanks again.

Thanks for joining us today. We hope you enjoyed the show. This has been a Tony Mantor production. For more information, contact media at plateau music. com.