The Show
50 Years of Shove It is a 2027-only production celebrating the 50th anniversary of “Take This Job and Shove It” and the full legacy of Johnny PayCheck. The anniversary is the occasion, but the show is the full story. The catalog, the songs, and the music of an artist who helped build the foundation of Outlaw country and honky-tonk music in America. Performed by his son, John PayCheck, a neotraditional country artist and songwriter in his own right, this is a full evening of Johnny PayCheck hits. It’s in the blood. There is no one else on earth who can bring this music home the way John can.
John has never built a show around his father’s catalog. The 50th anniversary of “Take This Job and Shove It” is the only occasion that could make this the right time. This is a 2027-only production, when the year is over, so is the show.
““No other country singer — Hank, Lefty, Kitty — no one could come close to this performance.”” - Bob Dylan
— The Philosophy of Modern Song
“If it weren’t for the eternal musical genius of his pen — he was, as is often overlooked, an exceptional songwriter — his rowdy vision that forever shifted the direction of country music, and that goddamn voice of his — sent from either heaven above or the very depths of hell — Johnny PayCheck would have been nothing more than another unknown honky-tonk thug with a sad, sordid story.” - Kurt Hernon,
— furious.com
“Johnny Paycheck was country music. He didn’t just sing it or perform it — he lived it.” - Trace Atkins
— Country Weekly, 2003
“For those who know better, he was the greatest of the Outlaw singers and the definitive honky-tonk voice of his time.” - Country Universe
— Country Universe, 2012
“Paycheck has produced a remarkable body of work over decades, featuring emotionally charged recordings, particularly from a vibrant early phase that deserves to rank him among the greatest vocalists in American music history. If artists like George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Willie Nelson are regarded as the great living country singers, this reissue makes a strong case for PayCheck’s inclusion in that elite group.” - Ben Ratliff
— New York Times, 1996
““The records always felt like they had tension, like they could self-destruct.”” - Lloyd Green
— Steel guitarist on the PayCheck sessions 1960's