Jamey Johnson’s ‘The Guitar Song’ Strikes Gold

Jamey Johnson's sophomore album, 'The Guitar Song,' has officially been certified gold, selling more than 500,000 copies since it was released in September. While many artists define their careers by the number of albums they sell, Jamey says that's not his measure of success.

"My dream already came true," Jamey writes on his website. "All I ever wanted was just to get to ride around and sing country music. It's cool when things like that happen along the way. Because those are the things I never thought I could achieve. Whether or not it's gold or platinum or hell, diamond for that matter, it wouldn't surprise me anymore. I'll just keep doing what I do. I wake up every day and go play some more country music and have another drink."

The critically-acclaimed double-disc project, which debuted at No. 1, has already garnered a lot of buzz, including a Grammy nomination for Best Country Album, plus a second nod for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for a track on the CD, 'Macon.' But Jamey, who prefers to let the music stand on its own, chose to shy away from doing much public promotion for the album.

"There's a type of personality that works really well in that environment of over-driven press," Jamey says. "The red carpet deals, the high-dollar dinners. Looking good is way more important than being intelligent. Nobody cares what you have to say or really what you think about anything -- just stand there and look good and keep signing those autographs. That's not what I signed up for. That's never been on my agenda, trying to get to somebody's VIP party or trying to look big and rich and all that kind of stuff. That's never been on my priority list at all."

It was his confidence in 'The Guitar Song,' which is admittedly a bit different than what is played on mainstream radio, that allowed the former Marine to release the 25-song package. "I don't even know how best to describe this album," Jamey tells The Boot. "When I started off, it was just songs I'd recorded, one for 'That Lonesome Song,' and some other ones I had intended being on different records ... I think we're making the best record by combining all these different sessions. There's songs that work together that tell the best story from a certain period of time. Then there are songs that don't work as well together if taken out of context. What we've done is put the songs together in a way that I think people would want to hear connected."

Jamey will kick off 2011 with a packed schedule that has him traveling all over the country, including stops in Michigan, Ohio and Florida. See his schedule here.