PREMIERE: Joshua Hedley's 'All Hat (No Cattle)' is a Timely Reminder that Debates Over Authenticity in Country Music Are Nothing New and Frankly All a Bit Silly

At the end of a summer that'll mostly be remembered for Gavin Adcock and Charley Crockett swinging their schlongs around in that age old game of who's-more-country-than-who, "The Singin' Professor of Country & Western" accidentally wades into the current country music authenticity debate and gives us a little country schooling on the title track to his forthcoming album, All Hat. Put 'em away now lads, the professor is here.

On 'All Hat (No Cattle),' the album opener to Hedley's forthcoming album, All Hat, he pokes fun at himself and the very idea of authenticity in a genre that's always struggled with it. Whether it was Outlaw Country or Countrypolitan, Bill Monroe or Olivia Newton John, the whole history of country music has been characterised by a tension between traditionalists and more pop aligned progressives, but as far as Joshua Hedley is concerned, we all are and we all ain't when it comes to authenticity; and the only really gauge of it is if an artist is being true to themselves.

"I ain’t got no horse I can’t rope or ride but I got me a Stetson ‘bout four feet high," he sings, before going on to explain that he's never milked a cow or driven an 18 wheeler. "All hat no cattle / But that’s all right with me."

“The subject matter here has become a bit more pertinent since I wrote this one," admits Hedley. "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.”

Amen to that. Thank God we've got the singin’ professor here to knock some sense into all these little country upstarts.

Zach Bryan is outside your office, waiting to see you next, sir.

Listen to 'All Hat (No Cattle)' below

His forthcoming studio album was co-produced by Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel and Hedley, and it's a lively collection of Western Swing tunes that brims with excitement, wit, and verve, as Hedley expertly navigates the tricky dance rhythms of this jazzy style of twang.

The first album recorded at Benson’s new studio, The Bismeaux Barn in Austin, TX, All Hat is another left turn in a career defined by sharp left turns, following his 2018 debut Mr. Jukebox, which explored ‘60s countrypolitan and established him as one of the finest old-school country crooners in all of Nashville. Its acclaimed 2022 follow up, Neon Blue, jumped ahead a few decades as Hedley turned his attention to the much-maligned period in country music: the early ‘90s, when a new wave of singing cowboy took their twang into rock arenas. Rather than his trusty touring band the Hedliners, for All Hat, Hedley worked with members of Asleep at the Wheel, including veteran fiddle player Jason Roberts.

“This album is my pièce de resistance,” Hedley says. “It’s all been building up to this moment. I feel like I’m making music I love more than any other style.”

A mainstay for years at the world-famous Robert's Western World (where he holds residency to this day), he has become a master of so many different styles, so much so that he's been dubbed "the singin' professor of Country & Western."

But in truth, he remains a devoted student of the genre: a player who’s always learning new techniques and always finding new perspectives on the music he loves. Hedley has been studying the form and its various mutations his entire life. When his parents bought him a violin and signed him up for lessons, the eight-year-old quickly grew impatient with the Suzuki Method and just wanted to play country fiddle. When other kids his age were playing the latest video games, Hedley was spending hours in his room teaching himself old Bob Wills tunes.

"I didn't grow up playing in garage bands," he says. "I grew up at the goddamned VFW hall. I grew up playing with guys in their fifties and sixties."

When other kids his age were playing the latest video games, he spent hours in his room teaching himself old Bob Wills tunes. “I didn’t grow up playing in garage bands. I grew up at the goddamned VFW hall. I grew up playing with guys in their fifties and sixties.”

From writing to arranging to recording, the whole process was an intense educational experience for the singin’ professor. All Hat doesn’t try to update the style, because Hedley and Asleep at the Wheel understand that it doesn’t need any kind of modernizing. It can sound as immediate and urgent and just plain fun now as it ever did. And he hopes folks will get up and dance. “At its core Western Swing is just dance music. Bob Wills didn’t play theatres; he played dance halls. The music is for dancing, and that’s what I wanted to come through on these songs.” Listeners will have a chance to do just that this week in Texas during Hedley’s initial tour dates in support of All Hat.

All Hat will be available across digital platforms, compact disc and standard black vinyl. A limited “Texas Sky Blue” color vinyl edition and limited compact disc edition, both autographed by Joshua Hedley, are available for pre-order via NEW WEST RECORDS.

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