{"id":5001,"date":"2012-02-29T00:46:39","date_gmt":"2012-02-29T07:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=5001"},"modified":"2012-02-29T00:55:14","modified_gmt":"2012-02-29T07:55:14","slug":"joe-nichols","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2012\/02\/joe-nichols\/","title":{"rendered":"JOE NICHOLS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"JOE NICHOLS\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Can a neo-traditionalist find his way in modern country? It\u2019s all good \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Since his platinum-selling debut Man With a Memory<\/em> in 2002, Joe Nichols\u2019 earthy baritone and easygoing charm have made him one of Nashville\u2019s most reliable neo-traditionalist singers. But the 35-year-old Arkansas native admits those talents were almost dimmed by personal drama at the beginning of his career. \u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of straightening up to do, and a lot of lessons to learn,\u201d says Nichols, who was successfully treated for substance abuse several years ago. \u201cI\u2019m OK with growing up now.\u201d<\/p>\n

A renewed commitment to self-improvement informed his new album, It\u2019s All Good<\/em>. The new album is his first since early 2011\u2019s Greatest Hits<\/em>, which retraced career highlights such as \u201cBrokenheartsville\u201d and \u201cThe Impossible.\u201d The retrospective offered the Grammy-nominated singer an opportunity to reflect on his past. \u201cI\u2019m in a great place spiritually, emotionally and physically,\u201d says Nichols. \u201cNow I\u2019m ready to succeed,\u00a0and I\u2019m ready for failure.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s All Good<\/em> is also Nichols\u2019 first album of new material since his longtime record label went through a corporate merger in 2009. The transition has shown Nichols how the music business can complicate matters of art. \u201cI\u2019ve had to learn how to trust some people,\u201d Nichols says. \u201cWith the record label it\u2019s been a real challenge. Their job is to make money, and it\u2019s not a simple equation. My job is to make a record by choosing the best songs available.\u201d Intent on making It\u2019s All Good<\/em> a mature musical statement, he took pains picking tunes. \u201cWriting has never been my strong suit, and the song selection process can be long, tedious and brutal,\u201d Nichols says with a chuckle. \u201cGoing into this album I thought that if it takes me a lot longer in the process I just have to stick with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nichols is one of contemporary music\u2019s few singers still sticking up for old-school country\u2014though he\u2019s felt pressure to conform to current trends. \u201cThe most important balance for me is appealing to the commercial side while making music,\u201d Nichols says. \u201cYou have to make music to where you can live with yourself. I\u2019ve had my clashes with producers and record labels in the past. It\u2019s not a difficult struggle for me to be me. It\u2019s a difficult struggle to convince everybody not to tamper with what I do as an artist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013Blake Boldt<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JOE NICHOLS\u00a0 Can a neo-traditionalist find his way in modern country? It\u2019s all good \u00a0 Since his platinum-selling debut Man With a Memory in 2002, Joe Nichols\u2019 earthy baritone and easygoing charm have made him one of Nashville\u2019s most reliable neo-traditionalist singers. But the 35-year-old Arkansas native admits those talents were almost dimmed by personal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[3139,2864,10156],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5001"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5001"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5022,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5001\/revisions\/5022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}