Courtesy photo
Country artist Joe Nichols will be in concert at the Majestic Theater in Gettysburg, Pa., on Sunday.
Country singer Joe Nichols to add ‘new dad’ to his credits
In concert Sunday at the Majestic
Originally published March 1, 2012
There are a few things Joe Nichols would like to do these days, like play a couple of rounds of golf, write some songs for his next album, play for troops overseas.
However, there is one more pressing matter that has him doing things like moving furniture and spending more time with his wife, Heather. The couple are expecting their first child in April.
"I'm very excited," Nichols said in a recent interview from their home in Tyler, Texas. He has a 13-year-old daughter, Ashelyn, and proud dad says she is excited too. "She's ready to have a little sis."
"So, that means you know the baby is a girl?" I asked.
"Yea. A little girl," Nichols said.
Before the baby arrives (hopefully!), Nichols will be in concert at the Majestic Theater, 25 Carlisle St., Gettysburg, Pa., at 4 p.m. Sunday. Opening for Nichols will be fellow Arkansans, the trio Edens Edge, whose first Top 20 single is "Amen." This show, sponsored by WGTY in Gettysburg, is now sold out.
"We've been working on it for a long time," Nichols, 35, said of the baby. The couple had a miscarriage in 2008 and turned to fertility doctors for help, something they talked about on "The View" two years ago. "Heather is really excited," he said.
Nichols said one thing he didn't expect was the recent International Artist of the Year nomination from CMC, Australia's version of CMT. The fan-voted awards are in mid-March, but Nichols said that's a little too close to the baby's due date to be that far from home.
Country legends like George Jones and Merle Haggard have given Nichols their public seal of approval, adding luster to the honors the music industry has given the singer so far: new artist awards from the Country Music Association, Billboard and the Academy of Country Music; four Grammy nominations; and a string of hits, including "Brokenheartsville," "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Come Off," "Gimme That Girl," "Believers," "I'll Wait for You" and his current single, "Take It Off," from his sixth studio album released in November, "It's All Good."
"Take It Off," a breezy summertime song, is Nichols' 15th chart hit. The video has had more than 1 million views.
"There are a lot of songs on the album that I think are single-worthy," Nichols said. But a promotional reorganization at his label, Show Dog Universal, has a decision about the album's next single on hold.
"This Ole Boy," written by the "Peach Picker" trio of Dallas Davidson, Rhett Atkins and Ben Hayslip, is climbing the chart -- but as a single for Craig Morgan. "It's kind of a fun song," Nichols said. "We thought we had the song and were surprised by the Craig Morgan thing," said Nichols, who also recorded "It's All Good."
There are a couple of other songs on the album he is "personally fond of," including "How I Wanna Go," written by Rivers Rutherford and Tim James. "It's a powerful song," Nichols said. "It's very much like me -- you take the last 10 years of my life, it pretty much sums it up in a song. It's the way I look at life these days."
"I Can't Take My Eyes Off You," written by Jon Wolfe, Tim Johnson and James Dean Hicks, is one of his best vocals, Nichols said.
While wife Heather doesn't like "No Truck, No Boat, No Girl," a guy song on a popular, and funny, country theme (Nichols does like the song, however), he said her favorite song on the album is "She's Just Like That," written by Thomas Rhett Atkins, Tyler Farr and Jaron Boyer. "It's a cool little love song that's really very flattering to a woman," Nichols said.
For the singer, whose early career years were full of personal ups and downs, life now is just like the album title, "It's All Good."
"I feel different, mature," he said. "I'm making some personal changes, growing up a bit and making some old things go away."
Rest assured, he says, his traditional country music sound is not one of them.
