Joshua Hedley Schools the Crowd at Skinny Dennis

At Skinny Dennis, 10/23/2025
Photo: Kristen Drum

Country singer Joshua Hedley has been a staple of the Lower Broad honky-tonk Robert’s Western World for years. He earned the nickname “Mr. Jukebox” (also the title of his 2018 debut album) for his encyclopedic knowledge of country music and his ability to play a Webb Pierce or Ernest Tubb song at the drop of a cowboy hat (or a $10 bill in the tip jar). Hedley is a student of country music history, whether it’s the ’60s countrypolitan of his first record or the neo-traditional ’90s country of his 2022 album Neon Blue. But Hedley’s new Western swing record All Hat, out Oct. 24 via New West, is particularly special to the singer. The album was produced by Hedley’s childhood hero, Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson.

Hedley gave fans a preview of All Hat at his album release show Thursday night at Skinny Dennis. Before the two-hour set, the crowd took two-step lessons from Caitlin and JB Duckett of Hello Honky Tonk and perused baked goods (including cowboy-hat-shaped cookies) from Literary Flour, VHS tapes from Danger Zone Video and Emergency Movie Services, and vintage clothes from Freaks & Keeks. By the time Hedley and his band The Hedliners kicked off the show with the one-two punch of “Hedliner Polka” and the Bob Wills-inspired “Come Take a Ride With Me,” the dance floor filled with two-steppers and swing dancers. Hedley has spent his career playing music for people to dance to, and the songs on All Hat are a perfect addition to his repertoire.

“At its core Western swing is just dance music,” the singer shared in a recent press release. “The music is for dancing and that’s what I wanted to come through on these songs.” Throughout the show, Hedley deftly alternated between slow-dance fodder like the silky smooth Mr. Jukebox song “Let’s Take a Vacation,” which Hedley dubs a “belly rubber,” and dance floor scorchers like “Broke Again.”

Joshua Hedley at Skinny Dennis, 10/23/2025
Photo: Kristen Drum

The set included tried-and-true honky-tonkers and Hedley classics like “These Walls,” inspired by East Nashville haunt FooBar before its closure and transformation into The Cobra — “If you remember it, you weren't really there,” Hedley quipped — to set list mainstay “Mr. Jukebox,” which Hedley referred to as “my ‘Wagon Wheel.’” Hedley and company punctuated those numbers with a handful of new tunes from All Hat, including the lively, jazzy “Fresh Hot Biscuits,” which already sounds like a Western swing standard.

Hedley also shared a story that serves as a reminder of his ability to give songs new life. “Boogie Woogie Tennessee,” the only cover song on All Hat, was originally recorded in 1950 by country singer Ricky Riddle. Hedley recorded his version after a friend bought a Dodge Durango on Craigslist and found a burned CD that had the song on it under the seat.

The singer also tipped his Stetson to the King of Western swing with Bob Wills’ “Faded Love” and Red Steagall’s “Lone Star Beer and Bob Wills Music.” He gave an apt history lesson on the prolific singer-songwriter Cindy Walker with his rendition of “Sugar Moon” as performed by Wills and his band The Texas Playboys. “Country music wouldn’t be half as cool as it is without Cindy Walker,” Hedley said. “Bob Wills songs would’ve had two chords and that’s it.”

In “Country & Western,” Hedley dubs himself “a singing professor of country and Western” and bemoans being labeled as “neofolk,” “outlaw” and all manner of other terms under the Americana umbrella. Introducing the song at Skinny Dennis, he reflected on some critics’ and listeners’ reluctance to just call his music what it is: country.

“People are afraid to call my music country music,” said Hedley. “I don’t know why that is. In my mind, it couldn't get more country than this shit. You ain’t gotta call me Americana. Everybody knows I’m from America. I’m from Florida. It’s not really like America. Florida’s like its own thing.”

Fittingly, Hedley closed out the Western swing portion of the night with “All Hat (No Cattle),” a song that pokes a bit of fun at the often exhausting hand-wringing over country artists’ authenticity. It also showcases Hedley’s sense of humor about himself, as he sings: “I ain’t got no horse / I can’t rope or ride / But I got me a Stetson about four foot high.” Hedley doesn’t take himself too seriously, but he takes country music as seriously as any of his heroes.

That deep respect was evident in his closing song, a cover of Johnny Paycheck’s “The Old Violin.” For the first time all evening, there was no dancing. Instead, the crowd opted to listen in reverent near-silence as Hedley sang the devastating song about mortality and what it means to truly give your all to music. All Hat is the latest chapter in the singing professor’s textbook of country music, and anyone who steps into Hedley’s class is fortunate to learn from one of the greats.