A new album of unreleased music by Johnny Cash will be released on June 28, 2024.
Songwriter was recorded in early 1993 but shelved when the Man in Black was introduced to producer Rick Rubin, and began a partnership that would reinvent his career.
According to a press release, the 11-track collection "showcases the breadth of his writing, one that has always represented the great expanse of the human condition: there are songs of love, family, sorrow, beauty, spiritual salvation, survival, redemption, and of course, some of the lighthearted humor Johnny was known for, all sung in his unmistakable, trademark, resonant voice."
Recorded as demos at LSI Studios in Nashville, Songwriter was rescued by son John Carter Cash and co-producer David “Fergie” Ferguson. The two invited a group of musicians, including country star Marty Stuart, Dave Roe, and Pete Abbott, to "breathe new life into the tracks, taking the sound back to the roots and heart of the songs."
Other artists appearing on the album include Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, country singer Vince Gill, and Cash’s friend and Highwaymen bandmate, outlaw country legend, Waylon Jennings.
“I wanted it to be songs that mostly people hadn’t heard and that paid close attention to who he was as a songwriter and who he was as an American voice,” explains John Carter Cash. “One of my most important focuses in the past 10 years is to make sure that history, as best that I can possibly, is to give history the opportunity to notice him as the great writer he is."
Listen to the first single "Well Alright," and watch a trailer for the album below.