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Here Is Joe Nichols’ Album ‘Honky Tonks & Country Songs’

Joe Nichols shares brand new album Honky Tonks & Country Songs, officially out now, October 25th on all streaming platforms. Learn more and listen to the new album below.

Joe Nichols is a special kind of artist. He releases music that is fun to listen to, meaningful, and feels distinctly made for his fanbase. Nichols’ newest project, Honky Tonks & Country Songs is the true epitome of his brand, and it is officially out today.

According to Nichols in a recent press release, “I’ve been in a lot of honky tonks. They’re the only places I could play for a long time, and you learn a lot about being an entertainer there, because people come wanting to hear a good song and have a good time. Country songs speak not just to those people, but to all people. My job is to make people feel good and sometimes that means with fun and happy songs, and other times with sad and sorrowful truths. But the goal is always to make them feel good. This album is meant to do exactly that. Everyone can find a good time in a honky tonk and a country song.”

Listen to the new project now!

Honky Tonks & Country Songs Track List:

  1. Honky Tonks and Country Songs (Tyler Hubbard/Matt Jenkins/Travis Wood/Casey Brown)
  2. Bottle It Up (Josh Kear/Dan Isbell/Paul Sikes)
  3. People Still Doin’ That (Justin Lantz/Clint Daniels)
  4. Helpless in a Honky Tonk (Jared Keim/Ryan Beaver/Neil Medley/Dan Alley)
  5. Country Boy Can Survive (Hank Williams Jr)
  6. Hard Fires (featuring Stevie Woodward) (Michael Carter/Adam Craig/Matt Rogers)
  7. Doin’ Life with You (Jimmy Yeary)
  8. Y’all Do (Jake Mitchell/Michael Hardy/Mike Walker)
  9. On and On (Jason Sellers Terri Jo Box/Dan Smalley)
  10. Better Than You (Joe Nichols & Annie Bosko) (Derek George/John Pierce)
  11. Amazing Ways (Dan Isbell/Jordan Minton/Jonathan Smith)
joe-nichols-album-country

Joe Nichols shares new album, ‘Honky Tonks & Country Songs,’ out now on all streaming platforms.

Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news about future Joe Nichols releases.

To keep up with Joe Nichols, follow him on InstagramTwitter, and Facebook.

Honky Tonks & Country Songs is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released music here on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.

Joe-nichols-new-album

Joe Nichols: ‘Good Day For Living’ – Album Review

Joe Nichols’ new album, Good Day For Living, featuring “Home Run” and “I Got Friends Who Do” with Blake Shelton, is out today, February 11. Read our review below.

Long considered one of country music’s best modern traditionalists, Joe Nichols stays true to that reputation on his new album, Good Day For Living, out today, February 11. The album is his first full-length project in four years, reuniting him with Mickey Jack Cones and Derek George, the producers behind his hits “Sunny and 75” and “Yeah.”

“For the first time in a long time, I don’t feel any pressure,” Nichols says in a statement. “I’m around great people. I’m the type of person who’s always striving for more, but I’ve reached a place where I’m grateful for everything I’ve accomplished so far. It’s been such a good run. I feel at peace, and that has freed me up to make new music that’s very honest.”

For the Quartz Hill Record recording artist, who is releasing his first album with the new label, but his tenth in total, the album is a statement to what he does best. It’s Nichols at his finest and that’s just what fans have come to know. Nowhere is this more evident than the album’s title track, which is sure to lighten your step, starting with a feelgood whistle remnant of Nichols’ hit “Sunny and 75.”

In a press round, Nichols said, “I like this song because it puts me in a good mood,” and it does the same for his kids. He admitted that the song is a favorite among his 7 and 9-year-old, for the simple line, “AC’s broke so we gotta sleep naked.” Yet the ode to embracing the good parts of your day is much more than that. “Living it up // Living it right // Living each day // One day at a time // Ain’t making no worry no bigger than it is when it isn’t,” He sings, and you can almost feel him smiling. “Gonna take a sweet sip of whatever life’s fixing // It’s a good day for living.”

On the album’s opener, the tongue-in-cheek “Brokenhearted,” Nichols muses over fiddle and steel that country music these days is just a bit too full of parties and happiness. He’s turning on the radio in search of something to cry to and instead, he’s finding hooking up, South beach, tans, and parties. “Ain’t no crying in your beer // Ain’t no she walked out the door,” He muses. “Ain’t nobody brokenhearted // In country music anymore.”

Another of the album’s highlights is the duet with Blake Shelton, “I Got Friends Who Do,” a single-worthy ode to having friends in high places. On the fun up-tempo, the pair trade verses like old buddies, singing about all the favors they can call in from friends, tongues firmly planted in cheeks. “It’s all about who you know,” Shelton sings. “I’ve got friends everywhere I go.”

“That’s How I Grew Up” tells the story of his younger days, admitting “most things I learned the hard way, but that’s how I grew up.” The story is a familiar country tale of dirt roads and church pews, Nichols singing, “I grew up in a back seat // On a back road // With the one that got away // Grew up in a back pew of an old church // Where I learned Amazing Grace // Make no mistake that I wouldn’t change // Who I am or who I was // Most things I learned the hard way // But that’s how I grew up.”

“Home Run,” written by Ashley Gorley, Dallas Davidson, and Ross Copperman, is just that. It’s Nichols doing what he does best, painting a picture with his voice. This time it’s a picture of longing for home, the lyrics put a unique spin on the term “home run.” Here, he’s ready to call it quits and hit the road to home. “It’s time I hit a home run // Point it toward that south sun // I’ll be touching bases with them faces // All them places I ain’t been too in way too long // ‘Cause I’ve been way too gone // Swinging for the fences I’ve been missing where I come from // It’s time I hit a home run”

Interestingly, Good Day For Living includes a handful of tracks that were previously released by other artists including “Brokenhearted” (William Michael Morgan), “Why Can’t She” (Adam Craig), “Reckon” (Adam Craig), “She Was” (Mark Chestnutt),  and “Hawaii on Me” (Chris Janson). In an interview, Nichols says that he rarely knows who wrote a song before recording it, and that he checks for songs to pass an “acoustic test” before deciding to record it. Basically, if the song can stand up lyrically with only an acoustic guitar in a room full of people, then it’s one he wants.

Two of the album’s most clever tracks lyrically are “Reckon” and “Why Can’t She,” both penned and previously released by the incredibly talented Adam Craig.  On the former, he puts a clever spin on words, as he reckons with what an ex is doing after he wrecked her heart. Then on “Why Can’t She,” he’s wondering why a woman can’t forgive him when God can, as the song builds in dramatic fashion. “God, tonight I’m calling out // But just a prayer ain’t saving me // I can’t undo the wrong I’ve done // But I know that // You can see // My heart’s full of regret// That’s why I’m down here on my knees // So if You can forgive me // Why can’t she?”

Nichols embraces mortality in a unique way on both “Hawaii on Me” and “She Was.” On the former, co-written by Chris Janson, he tells those who love him not to mourn when he passes, but to celebrate his life. He doesn’t want them to waste his money being sad, but instead wants them to go to Hawaii with that cash. “Put your feet in the sand // Buy you a coke // Raise it on up // Crack a good joke // Tiptoes in the water // And ashes to sea // Yeah, when I die // Go to Hawaii on me.” Meanwhile, on the album’s closing track, “She Was,” he sings of a mother, living selflessly before leaving the world. “If there ever was a picture of love,” He sings. “She was.”

On Good Day For Living, Joe Nichols has nothing to prove. Yet, he still proves why he’s one of country music’s most enduring voices, putting his own modern traditional spin on a wide array of songs and stories. There’s something for everyone here, from the sarcastic “Brokenhearted” through the bittersweet “She Was,” with everything from a Blake Shelton duet to a “Home Run” in-between. And it’s a home run, indeed.

Good Day For Living Tracklist:

  1. “Brokenhearted” (Rhett Akins, Marv Green, John Thomas Harding)
  2. “I Got Friends That Do” (feat. Blake Shelton) (Danick Dupelle, Tebey Ottoh, Jimmy Thow)
  3. “Home Run”* (Ashley Gorley, Dallas Davidson, Ross Copperman)
  4. “Dance With the Girl” (Jason Gantt, John Pierce, Emily Shackelton)
  5. “I Wanna Be Your Tonight” (Philip O’Donnell, Wade Kirby, Marv Green)
  6. “Good Day For Living” (Dave Cohen, Bobby Hambrick, Neil Mason)
  7. “Screened In” (Neil Thrasher, Anthony Jerome Martin)
  8. “That’s How I Grew Up” (Steven McMorran, Josh London, Adam Craig)
  9. “Reckon” (Derek George, Randy Montana, Jeremy Stover)
  10. “Why Can’t She” (Adam Craig, Jon Nite, Matt Rogers)
  11. “One Two Step Closer”* (Justin Lantz, Clint Daniels, Lance Miller)
  12. “Hawaii on Me”^ (Chris Janson, Will Nance, Kelly Roland)
  13. “She Was” (Neal Lee Coty, Jimmy Edward Melton)
Joe-nichols-album

Joe Nichols’ ‘Good Day For Living’ album is out now

Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news about upcoming Joe Nichols announcements and releases.

To keep up with Joe Nichols, follow him on InstagramTwitter, and Facebook.

Good Day For Living is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.

Joe-nichols-new-album

5 Things to Expect from Joe Nichols’ Album ‘Good Day For Living’

We chatted with country singer, Joe Nichols about his new album, Good Day For Living, out this Friday, February 11th. Here are five things to expect from the upcoming project.

  1. Joe Nichols creates music, like this record, because he believes it is an incredible way to connect with people and fans.

“We all just want to belong. We all want to feel like we’re in the right place. We all want to feel like people know what I’m going through, and I think music does that, and lets people in the same room, and lets us know we’re all in this together.”

  1. Nichols’ recorded, “That’s How I Grew Up” because it is a true depiction of his childhood.

“That’s how I grew up, that kinda nails it as far as my kinda childhood. Kinda gritty, raw side of childhood. A lot of things unfair, but a lot of things I made unfair myself. I connected with that song and the emotions.”

  1. The singer cut “She Was” to pay homage to the experiences of his friend and record label executive, Benny Brown.

“I couldn’t not cut that song for him after it meant so much to him [and his story].”

  1. The single, “Good Day for Living” is meant to be an uplifting and jamming, feel-good tune.

“It’s a positive song. Don’t we need some positivity in the world?! I like this song because it puts me in a good mood, and that’s rare for me [with songs]!”

  1. Nichols’ collaboration with buddy Blake Shelton, “I Got Friends That Do” was decades in the making.

“Well we had this song “Friends That Do” that came through and man it felt good from the demo. […] It dawned on me to call Blake […] He said man, we’ve been trying to do this for years.” Nichols added later, “We went from having a hit to having a smash. We’ve known each other for decades, and we haven’t had the chance to get on a record together.”

Joe-nichols-album

Joe Nichols’ new album is slated for release, this Friday, February 11th.

Check back this Friday for our full album review of Joe Nichols’ record Good Day For Living.

To keep up with Joe Nichols, follow him on InstagramTwitter, and Facebook.

Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news about future Joe Nichols releases.