The Spectrum: Have you ever played at a venue like Shea's Performing Arts Center?
Jerrod Niemann: Yeah, we actually do have venues that are set up like theaters. You know, the Rymon Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. is basically set up the same way. It's the "Mother Church of Country Music" out that way.
TS: Have you ever been to Buffalo before?
JN: I have been to Buffalo a couple times just to visit the radio station. I haven't been through there to enjoy the great city and go around and visit some of the historical sites, so maybe this time I can get around a bit."
TS: Can you tell me the ideas behind songs such as "Shinin' On Me?"
JN: "Shinin' On Me" is the first single off our new album, Free the Music, that just came out and it's exciting for me because I wrote it with some good buddies. Fellow singer/songwriter Lee Brice, who's out doing great right now, was the co-writer on that. Actually another fellow that I will have with me there out in Buffalo, he is out on the road with me writing right now, is Lance Miller. So maybe we can finagle [Lance Miller] to get up on stage and sing some of his hit songs. But I'll tell you that's what is great when you team up with friends and write music that you know is fun to play and hopefully the crowds will agree."
TS: How about the thinking behind a song like "For Everclear?"
JN: There really wasn't a teacher named Ms. Carter. There was actually a cross-country runner that I had a crush on and I didn't really know what to say to her and out of my awkwardness I said, "Hey, I see you run cross-country." She said, "Yeah, why?' I said, " I do, too." And of course, looking at me, definitely I'm not built to be a cross-country runner, at least in my own personal opinion. So she said, "We should go run sometime." So I said, "Yeah, lets do it." So we went to go jog and I said, "How long are we going to run, like a mile?" And she said, "No, something like five or six." And I was like, "Oh, crap."
So we started running and talking about music and we got into country music and she was really big into the Texas music scene. I had gone to college in Texas and she said, "Your kinda like more Nashville country." And I said, "What do you mean by that?" She said, "Well, I just kinda like funny songs." I said, "I can write a funny song." So I was about to die of two side aches so I said, "I'll tell you what: I'll stand by this tree and you finish and by the time you finish, I'll have something written for you." So I wrote the chorus to "For Everclear" and I had that completely done by the time she got back.
That night I wrote two verses and the next morning I wrote the third verse and I played it for her. It's probably the oldest song I had that I've been able to record. You just never know. It's usually a beautiful girl that inspires you.
TS: When you write a song that you think is the best possible thing you can write, how do you top a great song?
JN: My very first hit was with Garth Brooks. The song was called "Good Ride Cowboy." It was a tribute to Chris LeDox. My publisher asked me: "Man, how are you going to top a No. 1 hit with Garth Brooks?" And I got to thinking about it and I said: "Man, how am I?" And I realized you don't have to top anything. It's sort of like when you have a resume, you don't just list one thing you're proud of; you list everything. So the great thing is you're never topping anything. You're just adding to it."
TS: What do you think separates you from other country music artists?
JN: I think everybody definitely has their own unique qualities that maybe the world sees or that the world wants to see. But I think for me, it's that I'm a country music fan and I love going to shows. I hope to make our live shows not only entertaining but also interactive with the crowd and also representing the albums. You know when you go to a show and they sound nothing like the album, it's a bummer. So we try to make it sound just like the album."
TS: I have to ask a question about the lyrics to "One More Drinkin' Song." How do you come up with a word like "Marga-Daiquiri-Screw-Olada-On the beach?"
JN: I had written a bunch of drinking songs and didn't have a record deal. I would send them to my publisher and she would try to pitch them around town and get someone interested in recording them. I remember I sent in "How can I be so thirsty this morning when all I did was drink last night." And I got an email back from her and she said, "Hey, not many people are recording drinking songs anymore. Can you maybe dig a little deeper?"
So it kind of pissed me off, so I said: "Well, I can't believe someone's telling me what to write about." So I just wrote "One More Drinkin' Song" to kind of be a smart aleck. So when we got to the part about the favorite drink, I thought it would be funny to merge all those drinks together, but I thought: "Man, it's just finding the right group of drinks." So it took a while. If you think of all the other drinks, like "purple hooter shooters" or some of these others we were working with in there trying to find the right one was funny, but most of them are pretty nasty. So we had to find the right kind of drinks.
TS: How do you want Buffalo to remember you?
JN: Well, I want Buffalo to remember me as semi-sober, ha ha ha. No, we are excited always. You know, I grew up in Kansas a long ways away from Buffalo, N.Y., so it's always exciting to be able to venture out to a great part of our country and get to know everybody and understand just the way everyone else grew up.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
