Joe Nichols highly anticipated album ‘Never Gets Old‘ was released on July 28th and NECM was able to chat with him about this new project. The album consists of twelve songs that were hand-picked and assembled like a work of art. When asked about the songs on the album and what he was most excited about, Joe said, “I can’t wait for fans to hear the old and the new.” He has some ‘traditional country’ that will sound more like something he may have recorded at the beginning of his career and is very excited to get back to his ‘country’ roots. This new album has some songs that are made just for the radio and other great catalogue songs.
The album took some time to create and then record. Choosing the tracks, producing the songs and recording is a process. Joe starts with hundreds of tracks that he listens to. He’s never looking for a particular writer, he is just “looking for elements of the album that would make it whole.” The title track on the album was chosen as the lead single because it was so different than what is currently on country radio. “It’s going back to my roots. This is who I am.” ‘Never Gets Old’ has a late 70’s, early 80’s, Randy Travis vibe and Joe felt the need to get back to that. He said there are a lot of songs available that would seemingly do well on the radio, but he chose ‘Never Gets Old’ because it would stand out.
Joe Nichols is no stranger to country music and now rap. If you’ve been on Youtube or Facebook recently, you probably would have seen Joe Nichols’ music video of ‘Baby got Back’ with Sir Mix-a-Lot. This video had over 5 million online views which was surprising. Joe said, ”I was told it was one of the most watched videos on the internet and there’s a lot on the internet.” Joe laughed while saying he would have been happy with 10,000 views or even 100,000 views, but over 1 million in the first day of release was just shocking. When asked about the video, Joe said working with Sir Mix-a-Lot was great, and quick. “He was a good guy and was willing to do whatever was fun. He respected the way that I did the song because it’s not me trying to copy what he did.“Joe explained that this song is meant to be ironic and humorous. He hopes people realize that he took an iconic rap song from the 90’s and turned it into a country shuffle. Judging by the huge popularity online, he certainly did.
The Never Gets Old Tour is happening now and Joe is excited to bring the album to the people and to “get back to a bare bones passion for country music.” Joe loves his hit songs like they were his children, but also loves to sing the new songs from ‘Never Gets Old’ that remind him of what made him fall in love with the music all those years ago. Joe Nichols tour stops in Beverly, MA on November 16th and Portland, ME on November 17th and this seems like a show you will not want to miss!
Main Photo Credit: Joseph Llanes