Jerrod Niemann fresh off his latest Number 1 single, “Drink to That All Night,” is equal parts renegade and svengali. When you move to town and start writing songs with your friends and seem to be a bit of a party animal, people may have gotten the wrong idea. Niemann is passionate, professional, a pontificator. A man who believes in himself and isn’t afraid to answer any question. The single that was sent to radio after “Drink to That All Night,” was “Donkey.” This single had a larger bipolar response than anyone expected.
“Before we even released this single, it was the best selling single off the new album. I actually was probably my best-selling single. Thing was it really drew a divide out there. On one hand, my fans loved it and some people at radio loved it. On the other hand, I was getting word that, ‘you do this we’ll never play another one of your songs, you need to have this song pulled’. I can’t really be mad though, I’ve got people on both sides passionate about this, can’t really be mad.”
Jerrod has, in some camps, been labeled a rebel — a renegade when it comes to his opinion of the state of country music.
“Everything being said about the folks in country right now is way out of line. I stand by what I believe. When Waylon, Willie, Merle, heck even Kristofferson tried their hand, they were looked at like, ‘what are you kids trying? this isn’t Country Music.’ This is the same thing as today — artists creating songs with a different feel, a different vibe. It’s what makes us the best musical genre.”
One of the great, if not the greatest moment for a country music artist is performing at the Grand Ole Opry. A greater moment may be sharing the stage with two of your best friends. Just this past July, when Niemann played with friends Lee Brice and Randy Houser, without a doubt it was an otherworldly night.
“Myself, Jamey(Johnson), Lee (Brice), Randy(Houser), Dallas(Davidson), all came to town about the same time. We created the ‘Trailer Park,’ at the old United Artist building. Just writing, causing havoc, learning our craft and getting our asses kicked. To be able to share an amazing night with my two best friends, Lee and Randy, you can’t do any better than that.”
Jerrod Niemann is a true professional and an artist to be respected. It’s good to see artists still speaking their minds and standing up for themselves.
(Photo Credit: Kelly E Schultz/k3schultz.com)
