GADSDEN — Jeremy Reeves knows a little something about preparing wings, grilling steaks and baking delicious, oversized potatoes. Come Saturday night, the owner of restaurants in Gadsden and Centre, both called the Gridiron, is going to try his hand at cooking up a little country-style entertainment at Center Stage in Rainbow City featuring Alabama native Jamey Johnson.

“I've worked with the folks at Center Stage a lot in the past, helping them prepare food for their events,” Reeves told The Post. “This will be my first try at promoting an event myself.”

Reeves said the plan came together when he found out Center Stage was vacant the night of July 16. He made a few calls to the management company that represents Johnson and was able to put together a one-night event he thinks will be highly exciting and uniquely entertaining.

“It's a really nice place and holds about 2,000,” Reeves said. “There's not a bad seat in the house – it's nothing like a typical civic center – and Jamey Johnson happened to be passing through on his way somewhere else to perform, so it just worked out.”
On his website (jameyjohnson.com) the performer, who has won a stack of trophies and awards for his original songs and unique performances, claims his success so far is more than he could have ever imagined.

“My dream already came true,” Johnson said. “All I ever wanted was to get to just ride around and sing country music. It's cool when things happen along the way, because those are things I never thought I could achieve.”

Johnson first gained notoriety in 2005 when he won co-songwriter awards for the Trace Atkins song “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.” In the spring of 2007 the Academy of Country Music gave Johnson a Song of the Year award for co-writing the George Strait hit “Give It Away,” and the Country Music Association did the same later that year.

Mercury Records issued Johnson's album “That Lonesome Song” in the summer of 2008 and the collection was universally hailed as a masterwork. “Rolling Stone”, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are just a few of the major publications that sang its praises.

Johnson, a lover of classic country sounds, regularly performs oldies in his stage shows. “The Guitar Song” contains his versions of Kris Kristofferson's “For the Good Times” and Vern Gosdin's “Set 'Em Up Joe.”

Johnson was raised outside Montgomery in a family that was poor but highly musical. Like many country artists, Johnson first performed gospel music in churches. Unlike most, he is a formally trained musician who understood music theory as early as his junior-high years. He seems like a rebel, but Johnson spent eight years in the Marine Corps Reserves.

Johnson said his truest inspiration is easy to identify.

“Everything comes from God,” he said. “It is my interpretation of what He gave me, the circumstances that I drew the material from. It's certainly not for the industry, the trophies, the accolades and the plaques. It is straight from me to God.”

Reeves said there are only a couple hundred tickets remaining for Saturday night's performance, which begins at 7 p.m. and will feature food choices from the Gridiron menu at the concession stands.

Tickets start at $40 each and available online at www.centerstagegadsden.com.