Joshua Hedley’s new record, All Hat, is a doozy. Produced by Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson, the album is another addition to Hedley’s canon of historical country records. His music pays tribute to different eras of the genre, be it countrypolitan (Mr. Jukebox), 1990s new wave (Neon Blue), or timeless twang you can dance your heart out to (All Hat). Hedley operates like some sort of country music anthropologist, uncovering the lost or forgotten parts of the art that’s kept him going. He’s a household name at Robert’s Western World in Nashville, and All Hat is his bona fide masterpiece that blurs the line between student and savant. It’s the record somebody who grew up with Bob Wills and Keith Whitley would make, which means: it’s a damn good record.
Hedley was kind enough to share All Hat with us early so we could share with all of you. Below, you can find all eleven tracks and a nice explainer about each one from the man himself. Give it a listen today, give it a listen tomorrow, and then go see Hedley at one of the dates on his Nashville World Tour, which starts today.
“Come Take A Ride With Me”
A fun way to start the record. A bouncy upbeat tune about sleepin on a blanket. Actually that’s a lie. It’s about having premarital sex by a river in the 1930s.
“Boogie Woogie Tennessee”
This is a song released in 1950 by a guy named Ricky Riddle. My friend Dave Tanner bought a used Dodge Durango on Craigslist and found a burned CD under the seat and this song was on it. I learned it from playing it with him. I personally think it’s about a retirement community that likes to party.
“Fresh Hot Biscuits”
I wrote it the night before. I sat down and wrote it and thought it was pretty good, but when we recorded it the next day, it really came to life.” That’s the prime ingredient: what flour and milk are to fresh hot biscuits, energy and rhythm are to Western Swing.
“Mean Mama Blues”
I can’t take too much credit for writing this one. I guess I did, but some of these lyrics have been around since the dawn of words. Just a little blues number about having a mean girlfriend.
“All Hat (No Cattle)”
The subject matter here has become a bit more pertinent since I wrote this one. The great authenticity crisis of 2025. It’s all a load of BS if you ask me. I initially wrote it just poking fun at myself, but the underlying subtext here is all about this notion that you have to be a cowboy or something to play country music. Let’s just be clear: you don’t. I’ve been playing country music longer than that big fella’s been alive. I don’t know shit about agriculture. Who cares? Not me. Why? Cause it doesn’t matter. It’s music, it’s not that serious. Do you love country music? Did you put every ounce of yourself into that record or performance? Congratulations, you’re an authentic country singer. All this macho posturing is silly, and I like to think I captured the true silliness of it with this song.
“Stuck In Texas”
I like Texas.
“Clueless”
I was trying to write something but I couldn’t think of anything. So I just started playing Rhythm Changes (1 6 2 5, the changes to Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm,” and the basis of all pop music) over and over again and this is what came out.
“The Waltz I Promised to You”
I will never release an album that doesn’t contain at least one waltz.
“Hedliner Polka”
Oh Boy. I’m actually really proud of this one. This is the first instrumental I’ve ever written. If you don’t like a Polka there’s something fundamentally wrong with your soul.
“Crawlin’ Home To You”
I wrote this one with my pal Brennen Leigh. I came up with the first line out of nowhere “When the orange blossoms bloom in North Dakota.” I have no idea what made me think of that, but seeing as Brennen is from North Dakota and I’m from Florida, I knew I had to get her to finish it with me. And boy did she ever. I give most of the credit to her on this one. She’s so damn good.
“Over the Line”
This was the first song I wrote for the album. It actually took a long time to finish, which is not typically my style. I usually abandon songs if I can’t finish them in one sitting. It took me a long time to think of that many gambling puns.
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