Following Merle Haggard’s death on April 6th, Johnson shared his memories of the country legend’s friendship and invaluable songwriting advice.
There was a time when I really wasn’t right, and I didn’t have any inspiration or motivation to write songs. Then Merle told me, “I wish you’d write some more songs just because I want to hear them.” Those were the words that got me crawling out of my slump and trying to find my voice again.
Merle Haggard was a mentor to me. But more than that, he cared about me. He wanted to make sure I learned something from him — not just the music, not just the lifestyle, but something good. Merle taught me how to make music, and that’s how I make my living and feed my family today.
Bobby Bare introduced us at a party in 2008. He had a lot of respect for military men and women. He loved that I had served. Soon, I’m getting phone calls to talk about fishing, about musicians, phone calls just to talk. He’d call me up at 3 a.m. to talk about writing and song parts.
Merle told me to write about the parts of you that hurt the most. That’s the spot where he wrote from: He’d find the richest source of pain and write from that perspective.
— As told to Patrick Doyle, Rolling Stone