Make no mistake, Pug Johnson is a Country singer. But, he’s also a man attuned to his environment, and for a kid who grew up on the outskirts of Beaumont, Texas, his environment sang plenty of different tunes. “There's a lot of Cajun music, swamp pop, and New Orleans flair down there,” Johnson says of his hometown. “There's Mexican music, Texas swing, and honky tonk, too. It's a real vibe.” Like any good artist before him, Johnson listened to the world around him. He let the vibes seep into the foundation and built his own sound from the floor up, reshaping his influences into something new and finding room for Tejano, barroom boogie-woogie, and southern soul, too. Johnson releases his latest album, El Cabron, out now, a soundtrack for roadhouses, dance halls, and the long drive from sin to redemption, anchored by timeless country twang, humor, and plenty of greased-up groove. He shares the single, "Last Call (with Apologies To Terry Allen)" from the new album.
Pug Johnson is a Texas-based country artist whose songs reach far beyond the genre's borders. Raised on the outskirts of Beaumont, Texas, he grew up listening to a multicultural soundtrack of Cajun music, swamp pop, Tex-Mex, and honky tonk. Those influences have resurfaced on solo records like Throwed Off and Glad and El Cabron, shaping a wry, witty songwriting style praised by Lonesome Highway for "exploring life's darker side in places… with high spirits and wicked humor." A road warrior who has shared shows with Steve Earle, Midland, and Hayes Carll, Pug Johnson nods to his Texas roots while writing universal songs about the American everyman.
