Country takes bow to both past, future
Jerrod Niemann is all about country music. Whether it’s modern country or traditional country, Niemann likes to put his spin on it.
“I’m always trying to put out my interpretations of how I feel about country music,” he explains during a recent interview. “I’m feeling really good and using steel guitars, horns and fiddles.”
Niemann, who started out as a songwriter, is gearing up to release his sophomore album, “Free the Music,” on Oct. 2.
“I made this record in an effort to try and mix 1927 with 2027, but I didn’t want to disregard 100 years of what people have already done musically,” he says. “Instead, I wanted to take that and do it in a way that is also representative of the future.”
On the album, Niemann hooked up with friend Lee Brice on his first single, “Shinin’ on Me.” He even collaborated with Colbie Caillat on the track “I’m All About You.”
“It’s important for me to work with other songwriters,” he explains. “Since I started out this way, I know the talent and energy it takes to write a good song. So I like to challenge myself and work with these types of creative people.”
Niemann says he wanted to take a chance on this album and feels like he got lucky on his debut.
“I really wanted to pay homage to the 1920s and Dixieland type of music,” he says. “We even went so old school that we recorded the album analog to get a different sound. I’m really proud of the product.”
As a songwriter Neimann wrote songs for Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton and collaborated with his friends Jamey Johnson and Chris Young.
His first album catapulted him into the country music scene, and his first single, “Lover, Lover,” sold more than 1 million downloads.
But the road to the front of the stage came with some diversions. After having a record deal fall through, Niemann slipped into depression — and his thengirlfriend moved to India.
“I was at rock bottom. I gained 60 pounds, so I looked like the Marshmallow Man from ‘Ghostbusters.’ I didn’t write a song for almost a year,” he explains. “That’s when I ran into Jamey Johnson, at that point in my life. He said, ‘Man, I can tell you’re not yourself. Why don’t you go cut a record? That’s what I did, and it changed my life.’ And Jamey was right. So I took a year to record the last album, and by the end of that process, I had lost every bit of the weight. It’s amazing how doing something that you love can change your inner self and your outer appearance.”
Niemann hopes to never feel like that again. He says that’s the reason “Free the Music” is so uptempo and full of joy.
“I’m blessed to be able to do this for a living,” he says. “It’s the fans and the connection with them that keeps me getting up on stage. I try to be as honest as I can when I write and just let them into my life.”