As regular readers and Overdrive Radio listeners will remember, the last time I talked with trucking troubadour Tony Justice in the flesh he was in town here in Nashville for a video shoot for the "War Paint" single, part of a collaboration with the Susan G. Komen foundation around breast cancer awareness and fund-raising for research toward a cure. Justice's wife and longtime partner in his music business, Misty Justice, fought a long battle with breast cancer herself, and the "War Paint" song springs from that harrowing, long experience for the couple.
The music video for "War Paint" is out now, as you'll see up at the top of this post, and it's getting pretty high-profile exposure via the music-videos portion of the website for cable network CMT.
As Everhart Transportation driver Justice told me in the previous edition of Overdrive Radio that emerged from our meeting, the life experience that led to "War Paint" followed a successful run of albums for the artist, with Misty's diagnosis coming at the end of 2018. "We spent all of 2019 focusing on her and her health ... and didn't do anything really with the music," he said.
Then 2020 happened, and delays in getting into the studio for the current record led not only to a better overall listen, but the writing of "War Paint" itself. "Everything happens for a reason," Justice said. During the delay, "I was able to spill my guts out on paper and write it."
A friend asked him recently, "How did you keep your composure while you were recording it?"
Justice's answer: "Because I cried all my tears when I was writing it, and dealt with those emotions."
[Related: Tony Justice and '18 Gears to Life' -- the trucking behind, inside the music]
A longtime sponsor of Justice's music, Vann Brown of Bull Snot Products, noted he had a relationship with a member of a Georgia chapter of the Susan G. Komen foundation for breast-cancer research and awareness, which led to the foundation's national campaign with the song -- and the video.
It's a special song. Take a listen via the moving video up top.
You can hear more from Justice about the new record overall in the podcast below:
