By JOHN FAULKNER
Staff Writer

“1994, Joe Diffie comin’ out my radio/ I’m just a country boy with a farmer’s tan/ So help me girl I’ll be your Pickup Man/ How ’bout a night to remember and a fifth of Goose/ ‘Bout to bust out my honky-tonk attitude,” sings Jason Aldean in the chorus of “1994,” the third single from Aldean’s most recent album, “Night Train.”

For those who don’t know, the song is an homage to the aforementioned Diffie, who is playing Glover Pavilion at Central Park in Warsaw on Friday, July 19. “Honky Tonk Attitude,” “Pick-Up Man,” and “So Help Me Girl,” were just a few of his hits, and Aldean references others like “John Deere Green,” “C-O-U-N-T-R-Y,” and “Third Rock from the Sun.”

Two of those songs reached number one on the Billboard charts, and all of them were hits on the country charts. But, as Aldean’s song title indicates, nobody’s heard much from Diffie since the mid-90s.

Born in Oklahoma in 1958, Diffie has been playing music all his life. He moved around a lot (Texas, Wisconsin, Washington state) and tried his hand at a number of jobs before moving to Nashville in the late ‘80s to pursue a career in country music.

He took a job at Forest Hill Music, and continued writing songs and recording demos. By 1990 he had a record contract with Epic and released his debut album, “A Thousand Winding Roads.”

His first single, “Home,” topped the Billboard Hot Country, Radio & Records, and Gavin Report charts. He was the first country artist to have a debut at number one on all three. He spent the rest of the year touring with George Strait and picked up Cash Box’s male vocalist of the year award.

Diffie released his second album, Regular Joe, in 1992. It produced a handful of chart-toppers, and was certified gold. In the same year he recorded a duet with Mary Chapin Carpenter, “Not Too Much to Ask,” which received a nomination for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals at the 35th Grammy Awards.

Diffie hit his stride with “Honky Tonk Attitude,” released in ’93. The album produced three top 10 singles, and was certified platinum. “John Deere Green” and “Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die)” are still country radio staples. He had found his niche with up-tempo, rocking novelty songs.

“Third Rock from the Sun” was released a year later. This was the first album Diffie co-produced. The first two singles, the title track and “Pickup Man,” topped the charts. Several more hit singles would follow, and the album went platinum. Unfortunately, these two albums proved to be the height of Diffie’s career.

He continued to tour and record, but struggled to reproduce the kind of success he achieved in the early ‘90s. By the end of the 2000s, Diffie was touring mostly small venues and county fairs. He recorded “Homecoming: The Bluegrass Album” in 2010. While the album was met with some critical acclaim, and showed Diffie branching out into new musical territory, it did not produce any hit singles.

Then Aldean put out “1994.” People began to remember Joe Diffie, and a whole new generation was exposed to his work. “John Deere Green” gained radio play. Jukeboxes were spinning “Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox” again. And Diffie, flattered by Aldean’s tribute, went back to doing what he does best.

“My management called and mentioned a new act called the Jawga Boyz, who are making some waves down in the Southeast,” said Diffie. The Jawga Boyz play hick-hop, a new style that blends rap verses and country hooks (think Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem”). Earlier this year, Derek Thrahser from The Jawga Boyz joined Diffie in the studio to record a new song.

The result, “Girl Riding Shotgun,” is a summer-ready, sing-a-long single which features Diffie singing a catchy, light-hearted chorus between Thrasher’s raps. “It’s a different sound for me, and I’m having so much fun with it all,” says Diffie. “I can’t wait to see what the future brings!”

Diffie brings this new sound, as well as his classics, to the pavilion at Central Park tomorrow night. Josh Thompson opens at 6:30 p.m., and Diffie goes on at 8 p.m. Parking and admission are free.