Album Review – Josh Weathers – “Neon Never Fades”

Traditional Country (#510), Neotraditional Country (#510.8) and Y2K Country (#531) on the Country DDS. AI = Clean

Well here we go. We’re barely over our New Years hangovers, and Josh Weathers comes right out of the chute slobber knocking us across the face with a full-tilt honky tonk experience, and setting the pace for country music in 2026. If Weathers has anything to say about it, the new year will be COUNTRY. Neon Never Fades is chock full of throwback country sounds and songs modeled after the country music from the Reagan ’80s to the early Y2K stuff we all grew up with, and it comes in cooking.

Josh Weathers is an incredible singer with a soulful and effortless delivery who’s enjoyed quite a few viral moments over the years from ripping in to one song or another. He’s kind of reminds you of guy that you hated in high school because he was better at everything than you and made it all look so easy. But lucky for country fans, he’s on our side now. From Fort Worth, Weathers previously dabbled in singing more soul-style music and other stuff simply because he could.

But country music is where Josh Weathers centers his efforts here, influenced by what he calls “the sound that raised me.” Neon Never Fades starts off super honky tonk with the fun and infectious “Gambling,” as well as “Boys Chase Girls,” both of which are expertly tooled to get rednecks boot scooting across the floor at Billy Bob’s in the Stockyards. He keeps it going with “Honky Tonk Time,” and later “Livin’ The Life” co-written by Chris Stapleton, and that sounds like the second coming of George Strait.

But within the roughly 20-year span that Josh Weathers selects as his period of influences, country music illustrated quite a bit of sonic variety, and so does Neon Never Fades. Though whenever anyone cites “’90s country” these days, they tend to be referencing a very narrow focused sound centered around Alan Jackson hits and guitar tones from Brent Mason, Josh Weathers is here to put the more full-bodied experience back into the era.

When the songs “Life Still Happens” and “Who’s Hanging The Moon” come on, you start hearing the pop rock inflections in the tracks indicative of early Kenny Chesney or later Garth Brooks, even if there’s still plenty of steel guitar and a little fiddle in the mix. The little chimey accents in “Getting Over You” remind you of something Brooks & Dunn might have signed off on for a radio single, and the way multiple songs modulate the final chorus (i.e. change to a higher key), it’s super indicative of ’90s country pop.

But guess what folks, this was all part of the musical diet through the ’90s decade and beyond, and that is what Josh Weathers is trying to accurately and authentically represent through Neon Never Fades. And he does so with intention and studious knowledge of the era, assisted by producers Dan Frizsell and Ben Phillips. While the hard country crowd might gravitate toward the honky tonk stuff and find some of the other songs a little schmaltzy, there’s definitely a demographic that will be vice versa.

There’s nothing especially novel about recording a throwback country record these days. It’s all the rage really. But what makes the tracks of Neon Never Fades greater than the sum of their parts and the album a more unique musical expression is how Weathers explores all of the various sonic aspects of the ’90s era as opposed to cherry picking through them, from the rock-infused “I Gotta Have It,” to the piano ballad “Never Died From It.” And aside from a couple of Chris Stapleton co-writes, Josh Weathers co-writes these songs with some Nashville heavyweights like Bobby Pinson and Chris DuBois.

Perhaps most important to making Neon Never Fades special beyond the care brought to the writing and music selection for each track is how Josh Weathers can sing whatever any of these songs ask from him. From crooning, to finding a more soulful moment, to cutting loose on a honky tonk tune, Josh Weathers is here for it, and sells the audience on his virtues, and the virtues of old school country music that never goes out of style as long as it’s delivered properly and with passion.

Neon Never Fades is a fun record to start country music off on the right foot in 2026.

8.1/10

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Stream Neon Never Fades