As LL Cool J said…”Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years.” Joe Nichols first had a #1 single back in 2003 with ‘Brokenheartsville’ and his last #1 was ‘Gimme That Girl’ in 2010. He was quiet for a few years but is back with a vengeance with his new album ‘Crickets.’ The first single ‘Sunny and 75’ hit number one and his current single ‘Yeah’ had been number one for three weeks.
Recently New England Country Music got a chance to sit down with Joe Nichols and speak to him about music, family and everything in between. The following is what transpired.
Growing up Joe was inspired by Merle Haggard, Keith Whitley, and George Strait but also gives credit to guys who don’t get their due like Ronnie Milsap, Dan Williams and Randy Travis. All of these influences have shown themselves in his music as one minute he has you emotional with ‘The Impossible’ and the next you’re singing along to ‘Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off.’ And no one can deny that Joe Nichols has one of the most distinct voices in country music.
The road hasn’t always been easy for Joe as his musical career and personal life have had a few speed bumps. There has been a major change in record labels but he has always kept on churning out great music! He made sure to give credit to his band for sticking it out through it all and all those hard travel days. Joe tells us how his music has evolved since his major label debut in 2006:
“I hope to think that my music has gotten better over the past 18 years (since he started in the business). Back then, I didn’t know what a hit was but tried my hardest no matter what. I learned to try my hardest and listen to everything going on around me, not just me singing. Nowadays the song, production, guitars, drums, lyrics (all the elements) are all important, not just me.”
Joe considers ‘Man With A Memory‘ and ‘Crickets‘ as his best albums to date. When asked what song he’s most proud of, it was tough for him to choose just one. “I’m more proud of each number one single more than the last as I never expected to be around this business more than a few years. ‘Sunny and 75,’ ‘Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off’ are favorites and ‘Brokenheartsville’ stands the test of time. ‘Yeah’ is my biggest accomplishment so far (3 weeks in a row at number one) as it’s so hard nowadays to have a multi-week number one single with so many singles out there from such great artists.”
The video for ‘Yeah’ is such a great concept as it’s one of the most original concept videos I’ve seen in years. Joe gives all the credit to the director, Wes Edwards, for saving the video at the eleventh hour with the comic book concept that made the video pop! “The initial shoot was meant to look cheap and cheesy in the studio with fake campfire and trees. Wes sent in a 30 second clip of the comic book concept and that was it.”
Not only is Joe Nichols a great singer, he’s also a great family man. He married his wife Heather in 2007 and they now live in Texas with three daughters Ashelyn (born 1998), Dylan River (born 2012) and newest addition Georgia (born this past May). Being an artist on tour isn’t all it’s cracked up to be as certain aspects aren’t easy at all.
“Hardest part of this job is to leave my family behind. I was leaving just the other day and my 2 year old (Dylan) said ‘no bye bye’ for the first time and it broke my heart. Sometimes I come home from being on the road after 7-10 days or sometimes more, it’s almost like I have to get to know my kids again and they have to get to know me again. And just when they get to know me again, I’m back out the door.” “I work for a better time when we can be together all the time. We do what we have to do, so we can do what we wanna do.”
Joe and his wife are both huge into doing charity work with kids as they both do a lot of work with St. Jude’s and the Children’s Miracle Network. I got a chance to ask him about why he’s so passionate about this cause and also about Danny Nickerson.
“I love charity work, especially with kids. Rips my guts out (and my wife will agree with me) to see kids with cancer. Breaks my heart that a child has to deal with things they have to deal with. Danny’s story…..what a kid as he just wanted birthday cards. It makes your heart tingle. God bless his parents for what they go through. Kid has a good heart as he didn’t want a car or to meet his favorite star, just wanted birthday cards. What a sweet little message.”
Lastly, we got to speaking about what 4-5 artists he’d pay to see if he could put together his own ultimate concert lineup. The result is “weirdest lineup ever heard” as he mentioned Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Andre from Outkast, the Foo Fighters, Jack White and Radney Foster. That’s quite the lineup and I’m sure would be on helluva concert.
New England Country Music wants to thank Joe for taking the time to sit down with us and answer all of our questions. It was a true pleasure as we’ve been fans of his for years and he’s as great a person as he is an artist. We here at New England Country Music, look forward to working with him more in the future as this is still just the beginning of his story.
You can check out Joe on Lady Antebellum’s Take Me Downtown. The tour visits Bangor, ME on August 30th and Gilford, NH on August 31st. You can download “Crickets” for a limited time price of $7.99 on iTunes.
Make sure to follow Joe on Twitter, Facebook and on his website.
This article was written by NECM contributing writer, Mike Sullivan. You can follow me on Twitter, @msullivan2199.