A nod to the great Johnny Cash… one of the best to ever play the game.
The Man in Black really needs no introduction, he’s one of the biggest music icons of all time, transcending beyond the country music universe into the upper echelons of pop culture royalty. I’ve met hip hop fans that dig Johnny Cash, punk rockers that dig Johnny Cash, metalheads that dig Johnny Cash… his legacy knows no bounds.
And Matthew McConaughey? Well, everyone knows Mr. Alright, Alright Alight…
Back in 2012, a special event took place called, We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash. A number of greats were a part of the concert, including Ronnie Dunn, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Jamey Johnson and a ton more, but the host of the show was none other Matthew McConaughey. And, he even got in on the action, singing “The Man Comes Around.”
The title track from Johnny’s 2002 American IV: The Man Comes Around album, the Biblical end-times track is more of a spoken word type of song, so needless to say, it’s much more in Matthew’s wheelhouse compared to Johnny classic like “Folsom Prison Blues.”
And while McConaughey’s version didn’t make the recorded album, it did make some of the DVD bonus features.
The album version:
A Fan Of Sturgill Simpson’s “Metamodern Sounds”
Aside from all of the classic films he’s had like “Dazed and Confused” and “Dallas Buyer’s Club,” and the rom-coms like “Failure to Launch,” he’s just an all around cool dude.
From doing peyote with a mountain lion to name-dropping George Strait to get laid to raising millions of dollars for his home state of Texas, the guy is just a level of cool that most of us will never reach.
McConaughey joined The Justin Moore Podcast a while back for a must-listen conversation with Justin and his manager, JR, discussing everything from college football to his dad dying while he was having sex with his mom. And of course they discussed country music too.
When Justin asked McConaughey if he’s a country fan, he had a simple answer:
“I’m a good music fan.”
McConaughey cited Waylon Jennings as his favorite country voice, but he also mentioned a newer album as one of the best he’s heard recently: Sturgill Simpson‘s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music.
Now, this shouldn’t really come as a surprise to anybody.
First of all, I think we can all picture Matthew McConaughey getting high on some wild shit and listening to some Sturgill while thinking about the meaning of the world (it’s turtles all the way down, for the record). And this isn’t the first time McConaughey has shown some love for Sturgill, sharing a photo on Instagram last year of his cassette collection (yes, cassettes – again, classic McConaughey) featuring some Sturgill Simpson.
He also released a show on Spotify about “finding your frequency” during his book tour last year, and included Sturgill’s “It Ain’t All Flowers” from Metamodern Sounds in Country Music on the playlist. Seems like McConaughey is a BIG Sturgill guy – which makes sense, because Sturgill is one of the coolest guys in country music. Game respects game I guess.
During the interview on The Justin Moore Podcast, McConaughey also talked about starring in Trisha Yearwood’s “Walkaway Joe” video, and told a hilarious story about a bet he once made with Jamey Johnson.
It’s a must-listen interview, so check out the full episode here:
