Joe Nichols Announces New Album, ‘Crickets’
The wait is over for a new Joe Nichols album. The 4x GRAMMY nominee has completed work on his highly anticipated first album for his new label, Red Bow Records. Titled Crickets, the album features 16 songs, including the Top 25 smash “Sunny and 75,” as well as a cover of the Merle Haggard classic, “Footlights,” in honor of Nichols’ late father Mike.
The album will be available everywhere on October 8th; however, fans can pre-order Crickets now HERE. With this exclusive pre-order, fans can select from two different packages, the first is an autographed Crickets CD, and a “Sunny and 75” (acoustic) bonus track that can be downloaded immediately. The second package features a limited edition t-shirt along with the autographed CD and “Sunny and 75″ (acoustic) bonus track. The ONLY place fans can get an autographed CD, bonus track and limited t-shirt is on Joe’s website.
“Joe Nichols is one of the format’s most talented vocalists, and it is a great honor for this label to be involved with his career,” said Benny Brown, CEO, BBR Music Group. “How often does an artist release a CD with 16 songs these days? Music fans who have waited a long time to hear new Joe Nichols music are going to be very happy.”
Nichols, who has been praised for his work by fellow artists and critics alike, is known for both his sentimental nature and fun loving attitude when it comes to music. The same artist who earned a huge hit with the heartfelt, traditional country ballad “The Impossible” also scored a number one with the contemporary and whimsical “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off.” Nichols’ approach to song selection for Crickets follows the same diverse path.
“First and foremost, I wanted to make a good record that my fans will enjoy listening to over and over again. I wanted songs that would feed both their soul, and their sense of fun,” Nichols said of Crickets. “I felt a renewed enthusiasm and sense of freedom with this record that I think shows in the music and also in my vocals. I could not be happier with this album. I know artists always say, ‘this is my best work yet.’ And I am going to say it now, and mean it.”
Nichols also explains the album title: “When listening back to all the tracks, we found one word that appeared in many of the songs—crickets. It’s a very earthy little creature, and I think these songs are very earthy and organic, like this whole recording process was for me. So when my label CEO Benny Brown suggested we title the album ‘Crickets,’ it made perfect sense.”
Crickets was produced by Mickey Jack Cones and Derek George except for songs “Yeah” and “Billy Graham’s Bible,” which were produced by Tony Brown and Mickey Jack Cones.
Crickets Track Listing:
1) Just Let Me Fall In Love With You
(Steve Bogard, Ryan Tyndell, Brett Beavers)
2) Hard to Be Cool
(Rob Hatch, Jason Sellers)
3) Baby You’re In Love With Me
(Dylan Altman, Eric Paslay, Chris Wallin)
4) Yeah
(Bryan Simpson, Ashley Gorley)
5) Billy Graham’s Bible
(Chris Dubois, Jimmy Melton, Neal Coty)
6) Better Than Beautiful
(Jason Delkou, Rich Herring)
7) Gotta Love It
(Clay Mills, Marla Cannon-Goodman, Dave Berg)
8) Sunny and 75
(Michael Dulaney, Jason Sellers, Paul Jenkins)
9) Y’ant To
(Justin Wilson)
10) Hee Haw
(Lynn Hutton, Tami Kidd-Hutton, Michael Heeney)
11) Love Has a Way
(John Edwards, Jason Sever, Steve Bogard)
12) Smile on Mine
(Ben Hayslip, Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson)
13) Open Up a Can
(Ashley Gorley, Dallas Davidson, Kelley Lovelace)
14) Old School Country Song
(Rivers Rutherford, Jim Collins)
15) Footlights
(Merle Haggard)
16) Crickets
(Brent Baxter, Bill Whyte, Lisa Shaffer)
