A proud throwback to country sounds of the past, Joshua Hedley writes and plays music for honky tonks and the folks who love them. Hedley knows how to put heartache to music and how to move the crowd on a Saturday night. He pens lyrics that mine the down-to-earth traditions of country (as he says in one of his songs, "I sing about real life/Like drinkin', cheatin' and lovin'"), while setting them to music that's made for fiddles and steel guitars, evoking Nashville history while still sounding fresh and confident. Hedley's first album, 2018's Mr. Jukebox, was an homage to the polished, unpretentious tone of the 1960s countrypolitan era, while 2022's Neon Blue tipped its hat to the New Traditionalist sound of the '90s, with snappy and crisp arrangements adding an up-to-date sheen to songs that still owed a debt to classic country.