Jerrod Niemann is honest about the fact that he poured more of himself into his latest album, This Ride, than he did with any of his previous offerings. Aside from the record showing his continued growth and evolution as an artist, This Ride became a mission for Niemann to proverbially lay all his cards on the table, inspired not only by finding and creating music that touches his soul but also by realizing the enormity of the responsibility he has been given.
“My wife works for hospice, so I hear a lot of death stories. I’ve been thinking about death a lot — not that I think death is actually death; I think there’s obviously more beyond our plane — but just what you leave behind,” Niemann explains to The Boot. “I was thinking, ‘Man, at any moment, any of us could be gone. When you went, did you leave what you wanted to behind?’
“So I think, for me, it’s just knowing there are so many artists out there, singer-songwriters, that would love to have the opportunity. It’s our duty, when you’re handed one of the many torches of country music, to make sure you’re making the best music to your ability, because you have theoretically all the tools to be able to do it,” he continues. “I feel like I’m pretty easily motivated. I’ve had a lot of challenges to motivate me. Fans definitely are inspirational. Anybody who would spend their hard-earned money to hear you do something you love is truly an amazing gift.”
Niemann has accomplished plenty in the last 10 years of his career, but there’s still a lot more he wants to do — and it doesn’t all have to do with music.
“There’s a lot of places in the world I’d still love to see, some I probably don’t even know about or are aware of,” Niemann concedes. “I would love to spend a long, long, long period of time – years – almost like a hermit on a beach. We’re doing a whiskey with Corsair. I’ve been working on a jewelry line. It’s just fun to expand and see what the world has in store. I’d definitely like to write an audio book.”
This Ride is available for purchase on Amazon and iTunes.
This Article Was Originally Posted at www.TheBoot.com
http://theboot.com/jerrod-niemann-carrying-the-country-music-torch/
