A Conversation with Jerrod Niemann – HuffPost 8.3.12
Mike Ragogna: Here we are at the Pepsi/Billboard Summer Beats Concert Series. What do you make of all this?
Jerrod Niemann: It’s good to see it actually happen, ’cause when you hear about it, it’s exciting. I know it’s taken place in New York and LA, so I’m glad they brought it to Twangtown. I’m ready to rock.
MR: This is the second installment, this one featuring you, Gloriana, Randy Houser and couple of other folks. But it’s also exciting because this serves as a bit of a launch for your new album coming out in October, right?
JN: October 2nd, yes. It’s called Free The Music, so this is a perfect opportunity to showcase some of that new music and hopefully play a couple of songs off our last record that everybody knows.
MR: That album was a number one record, had a great title…
JN: …Judge Jerrod And The Hung Jury. Da-na-na…cue the thunder and lightning!
MR: (laughs) Love it. So what was that a reference to, oh by the way?
JN: Well, the guys in our band actually played on the record. I didn’t have a record deal at the time, so we were cruising around the country in this creepy white van we used to ride around in, and it was the middle of the night and I asked the guys to play on this album. We were bouncing around ideas and we got conflicting ideas for the album, and one of the guys in the band said, “Man, we can’t decide on anything; we’re just a hung jury.” So about a year later, once we did the album, we had twelve actual songs and eight interstitials or skits in-between some of the songs, so it was unconventional. When we got done, I looked at the guys and I said, “You know, if anybody ever hears this album they’re going to judge me and you for making it.” So it was Judge Jerrod And the Hung Jury.
MR: Cool. So, new album title, Free The Music. Free the Music?
JN: Yeah, we tried to free the music ourselves on the first one, just kind of getting in the state of mind to be creative and different in the studio. Country music fans were kind enough to embrace it, so that brings us to our sophomore record. I wanted to go in and challenge myself and the guys in the band, since we still get to play on this particular record, and see what we could come up with. So it was not only digging in as a songwriter, but I wanted to dig in as a producer, clear back through the history of country music. We actually honored the sounds and instrumentation that go clear back to the twenties, recorded right here in Nashville, Tennessee.
MR: And you recorded this with a custom-built acoustic guitar featuring a B-Bender.
JN: A B-Bender, or any sort of bender that is in a guitar, is set up to emulate the steel guitar sound. It’s located in the guitar strap and the guitarist can actually pull down on the neck and it pulls a lever and bends the string and it sounds like a steel guitar. We used that on our first album and our guitar player was really unique and really great at it, so we thought, “Why not put it in an acoustic?” So we looked around and looked around and finally found a Washburn acoustic guitar that could withstand the operation. When you hear the album, any steel guitar part is done by an acoustic guitar, and it sounds really cool, it’s different.
MR: Your single “Shining On Me” is in the Top Thirty right now, and it’s bound to be another Top Ten record for you. When you look back at your first big hit “Lover, Lover” and those days, what do you think has been the major change for you?
JN: I think with “Lover, Lover,” you didn’t know what to expect. It’s your first single and it happened so quickly and it was so exciting. But now, once the dust has settled, you realize that you’re in a group, you’re a musician on a label, and you have things going on, momentum that you want. For me, it’s to keep it fresh and challenge myself. Really, that’s one thing that I focus on and what’s changed for me is realizing not getting lost in the traveling stuff and realizing that it is music and not to forget about the music.
MR: Also, great things that you’ve done in your career were with Garth Brooks. I guess you were asked to come up with a few songs for one of his projects, which resulted in three songs, one being your Chris LeDoux tribute, “Good Ride Cowboy.”
JN: Yeah. Garth is, as we all know, an amazing person. He reached out nearly a decade ago just to write. He’d heard some songs and, like you’d hear some crazy stories, he’d pick up the phone and call me and my buddy and we hit it off. He’s been sort of a mentor in many ways to me and many other people as a musician, a friend, and just a man. So having that experience to be able to go to Oklahoma and work with someone like that, and to write “Good Ride Cowboy” with him, as you mentioned, a tribute to both of our hero Chris LeDoux is just amazing. I’m very grateful for that experience.
MR: So you have your own personal relationship with the late Chris LeDoux and his music.
JN: Yeah, and I think that’s one of the reasons me and my buddy Richie popped into Garth’s mind when he was going to write this song, because he knew that we’d had previous conversations about Chris LeDoux and we’d sit down and say, “Hey, we’ve got a guy from Kansas, a guy from Texas, and a guy from Oklahoma. If we can’t come up with a song about Chris LeDoux then who can?”
MR: He was amazing, and it’s great you did that. Anyway, getting back to the Pepsi Billboard Summer Beats Concert Series, what’s your set going to cover and how will it work?
JN: We get thirty minutes, so we’ve definitely trimmed out a lot of the old stuff, and we’re going to load it up with as much new stuff as possible and try to hopefully showcase some of the hard work that we’ve put into the music on the new album.
MR: And Colbie Caillat is on the new one.
JN: We didn’t have any guest vocalists on the record and there was a song that really, really was crying for a female vocalist, and I wanted to step outside of Nashville. My management said, “Hey, if you could pick anybody, no matter how far-fetched it may seem, who would you pick?” and I said, “Probably Colbie Caillat. She’s amazing. I doubt she would do it, I don’t really know her,” but they reached out to her and she heard the song and she was gracious enough to come to Nashville. I didn’t get to see her when she was here, but she did an amazing job and really brought it to life.
MR: All right, the traditional question: What advice do you have for new artists?
JN: You know, I think just to realize that all of your heroes are wrapped in together to make you. And there’s no reason to try to sound or be like anybody else, because at the end of the day, you do have to be somebody, so you might as well just be yourself.
MR: One last question about the Pepsi/Billboard event. What is your interaction with your fans through social media and maybe even with tonight’s event?
JN: Well, I was actually glad we were doing this with Twitter, because I’ve actually spent a lot of time over the last year. Blake Shelton started it. He got me on Twitter. He was teasing me back and forth when we were on tour together, so that kind of got me hooked. So over the last year, I’ve really enjoyed interacting with all these different country music fans and getting to know them. So it’s neat whenever we can all come together and promote a great event like this, and the fact that they’re supportive and sending questions. I love how everybody’s connected now. Literally, at the drop of a hat, you can talk to anybody in the world.
MR: And is this something you’re going to continue? Have you taken a few cues from tonight’s events that you’re going to bring into the future?
JN: You know, we haven’t gotten that far just yet, but I’m always up to steal a couple of dance moves from my buddies up on stage, just in case I ever take up dancing.
Transcribed by Galen Hawthorne