A chat with Joshua Hedley, aka Mr. Jukebox, ahead of Tuesday’s Knuckleheads show

Joshua Hedley’s peers call him “Mr. Jukebox” — a nickname earned from the extensive repertoire of classic country tunes the Nashville musician performs. Mr. Jukebox is also the title of Hedley’s Third Man Records debut, out earlier this year.  When I spoke to Hedley on the phone recently, the fiddle-player-turned-bandleader was on tour in Australia and pondering where he may have lost his wallet. (He’s at Knuckleheads on Tuesday.) Before heading off to search the Souvlaki King — his final stop the previous evening — we talked about his unique fanbase, his appreciation of hip-hop, and how he often feels like a pro wrestler. 

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You’ve been playing music since you were a kid, and you’re finally releasing your first full-length at 33 years old. Had you grown impatient about never having the opportunity to do an album until now?

No, actually, I didn’t really wanna do it [laughs]. I was just touring around with Jonny Fritz and doing some solo tours in Australia and playing at Robert’s [Western World in Nashville], and I was comfortable. Really, Jonny and Nikki Lane pressured me into making a record, and I finally did it. Now I’m glad I did it.

What was your first interaction with Third Man or Jack White like?

I actually worked with Jack on a couple of those blue series seven-inches … I played fiddle on the First Aid Kit one and the Lanie Lane one. So I knew him, and we both lived in Nashville, and I have friends that’d played for him. And I’ve know Ben Swank, who also works at Third Man, for a long time as well. He’s the one that got ahold of [my] EP [from a couple years ago] initially, then he played it for Jack. I don’t think he even knew that I was a singer.

You’ve done some collaborations with Yelawolf and Struggle Jennings before. Do you end up listening to a lot of hip-hop in your free time?

Yeah, I’ve always been into hip-hop. That was sort of a thing in Florida growing up. We would play at the club, playing country songs and everyone would be up two-steppin’ and line dancin’ and stuff like that. Then we’d take a set break and the DJ would come on and start playing hip-hop and all those same people that were line dancing would be out there bumpin’ and grindin’ to hip-hop. So yeah, I just grew up with both of them, country and hip-hop. I’ve always had a really deep love and appreciation for rap music and hip-hop in general.

Not many buzzy artists right now really pull influence from classic country music like you do. I’m a little curious about what your fanbase is like and who shows up to the gigs.

It’s everything. I get older fans, young hipster types, rednecks. It runs the gamut. I play country music and it attracts rednecks, as you would imagine, but also, because of the kind of country music I play, a lot of older folks. And then being on Third Man Records, I kinda get the young, hip crowd, too. I think everybody just likes good, classic country music and it’s coming around and getting popular again.

Do you think there are any other country musicians that are bigger pro wrestling fans than you?

[Laughs] Man, I don’t t know. That’s a good question. I think you’d be hard pressed to find anybody that’s as big a pro wrestling fan as I am. I think anybody else who’s into wrestling the way I am is a wrestler.

What was your first dive into the wrestling world like? What guys were you into?

I grew up like about everybody in the eighties and early nineties my age. I grew up a Hulkamaniac, through and through. I sorta got into it at the tail end of the Attitude era, I was big into Stone Cold and the Rock, and then I sorta got into CM Punk, and after that I got into some of the indie stuff. Now I’m deep into it, now I subscribe to five different streaming sites for wrestling. I just went to the WWE Super Showdown here in Melbourne, Australia, and I went to a Revolution Pro show in the U.K. and I’m gonna see if there’s any local wrestling here while I’m in town. I kinda feel like I’m about to start booking my tours around wrestling events that I wanna go to [laughs].

Do you think there are some parallels between the big personalities of country superstars and pro wrestlers?

I feel closer to wrestlers because we have a similar lifestyle. We’re on the road all the time, and we’re touring in a van. Those guys all drive themselves in rental cars, it’s sort of like a tradition. There’s only a few of them that have a bus. Big Show’s got a bus, John Cena’s got a bus, but most of them have rental cars and two or three of them will get in and drive city to city. I was talking to Stone Cold Steve Austin and when he was doing it, he was saying they were on the road for 28 days a month, so they’re always out. They’re out more than I am. You’re sleeping in hotels, you’re in a different city every day. It’s a really similar lifestyle, but when we get there we do something different. But even then it’s not that different, I’m just not taking any bumps.

Are you jealous of any of the rappers that get to have Ric Flair in their music videos?

No, because I’m gonna try to get him in one of mine as soon as humanly possible. I’ll get Stone Cold probably, too. He likes country music.

Joshua Hedley is at Knuckleheads Saloon (2715 Rochester Ave., Kansas City, MO) on Tuesday, October 16. Tickets and more info available here.