Posted September 2026
There are some last names in music that carry a soundtrack with them.
Owens is one of them.
For generations of country music fans, the name immediately brings to mind Buck Owens, Don Rich, the Buckaroos, red-white-and-blue Telecasters, Hee Haw and that unmistakable Bakersfield Sound that helped change country music.
Now Johnny Owens — Buck Owens' youngest son — is carrying that music forward in his own way.
Johnny recently joined me for his first Boomerocity interview to talk about his new recording of “Act Naturally,” his performances with Johnny Owens and the Bakersfield Sound, and something perhaps even more interesting: what he's learning about his father by doing some of the same work himself.
Act Naturally — Again
“Act Naturally” occupies a fascinating place in American music history.
The song became closely associated with Buck Owens before crossing into an entirely different musical universe when The Beatles recorded it with Ringo Starr singing lead. For Johnny, recording the song isn't simply an exercise in nostalgia. It's part of a larger effort to keep this music in front of audiences.
During our conversation, Johnny revealed that “Act Naturally” is only the beginning. His recording of “Together Again” follows, a Christmas song is planned, and he's working toward an album.
The timing also connects with another important chapter of his father's career: the anniversary of Buck Owens' celebrated Carnegie Hall album.
Understanding Dad Differently
One of my favorite moments in our conversation came when I asked Johnny whether performing his father's music had caused him to understand Buck differently.
His answer was revealing.
Johnny was very young during Buck's early run of enormous success. He said he didn't fully appreciate the musical side of what his father accomplished until he began singing himself.
Then came a remarkably poignant revelation:
Buck Owens never heard Johnny sing.
Now Johnny understands firsthand what goes into recording a song, assembling a band, traveling, promoting shows and keeping the entire operation moving. It has given the son a new appreciation for the father.
When Merle Haggard Was Just Somebody's Dad
Johnny also grew up around people whose names now occupy enormous places in country music history.
People like Merle Haggard.
But children don't necessarily see legends as legends. Johnny recalled being around Merle at his home with Merle's son Marty Haggard. They could be in the kitchen eating sandwiches and talking like anybody else.
Looking back decades later, Johnny realizes how extraordinary those very ordinary moments actually were.
That's one of the things I love about conversations like this. Music history isn't always found under stage lights. Sometimes it's sitting around a kitchen table eating a sandwich.
Buck Owens, The Businessman
This part especially caught my attention.
Growing up in Phoenix, I knew Buck Owens not only through his records and television appearances, but through KNIX radio.
Johnny explained that his father understood something many entertainers never adequately prepare for: success doesn't necessarily last forever.
Buck invested in radio.
Johnny recalled the Phoenix station climbing from near the bottom of a crowded market to the top and remaining enormously successful.
That tells us something important about Buck Owens. Behind the rhinestone suits, Telecasters, records and television shows was a businessman thinking about tomorrow.
“Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass?”
And then Johnny gave me one of those stories that makes an interview worth doing all by itself. The song was “Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass?” It didn't sound like conventional Buck Owens country. The fuzzed-out guitar gave the recording something closer to a rock-and-roll edge. According to Johnny's telling of the story, Capitol wasn't exactly enthusiastic about recording it.
Buck had other ideas.
The confrontation eventually involved the musicians appearing to pack up their instruments and head somewhere else to record it.
Capitol reconsidered.
They recorded the song. And it became a No. 1 hit.
That's Buck Owens.
Keeping The Music Moving
Johnny spent years performing at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace in Bakersfield. Eventually he realized that preserving his father's music didn't have to stop at the walls of the Crystal Palace.
Audiences elsewhere wanted it too.
Today, Johnny Owens and the Bakersfield Sound brings those songs, stories and memories to audiences who remember them — and introduces the music to people who may be discovering it for the first time.
During our interview, Johnny talked about hearing fans tell him exactly where they were when they heard a particular song, whom they were with, or which legendary performers they once saw within weeks of each other.
That's more than nostalgia. That's a soundtrack attached to a life. And perhaps that's the most appropriate reason imaginable for Johnny Owens to keep playing this music. Because every time somebody hears those songs again, a little piece of the Bakersfield Sound comes alive.
