Jerrod Niemann wants to open up country music to people who may have written the genre off in the past.
To accomplish this, the singer, headlining next Wednesday's sold-out Country Spring Break, is using a touring style that owes a lot to rock bands, a No. 1 hit first made famous by an R&B group, and an album that owes a lot to Dr. Dre.
Let's start with that last one. Niemann's 2010 major label debut, "Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury," mixes eight skits with its 12 songs. It's similar to the approach Dr. Dre took with his 1992 hit "The Chronic." And Niemann is very open about that fact. He even threw out a "Deez Nuts!" during a phone interview.
"It's something that was done for many years on classic rock albums, but for me as a kid I remember hearing people saying stuff at school and when I found it was on an album, I'd buy it to hear the skit," Niemann said. "When I started to write the album, I wanted an attention grabber to get people talking about it and hopefully the music would make them want to stay."
It seems to be working, based largely on the No. 1 song "Lover Lover." The song first made a splash in the early '90s as the biggest hit for Sonia Dada, and Niemann listened to it repeatedly one summer in his hometown of Liberal, Kan. While working on "Judge Jerrod," the song began playing on his sister's iPod and the memories came flooding back to him. He approached his co-producer about making a country version of the song, using multiple country singers to replicate the style of Sonia Dada's multiple vocalists. Because his friends were under contract to labels and Niemann was making his album independently, that proved complicated to organize. Instead, Niemann recorded nine different vocal parts himself, layering them in to complete the song.
"I didn't think I would be able to hit any of the notes, since those guys are so good and rangy, but by the grace of God it worked out," Niemann said. "I never thought a childhood favorite could end up changing my life."
Country Spring Break comes in the midst of his "Higher Education" tour with fellow spring-breaker Lee Brice. The duo are hitting towns with nearby colleges in the hopes of attracting students to country bars and honky tonks.
"I want country to get out to as many people as possible. I want to bring in people who say 'I hate country music,' " Niemann said. "If they don't like it, that's fine, but decide based on what you hear, not the stereotypes. We want to get younger people into these venues they've never been to, and maybe they'll come back. We're trying to get some fresh blood in the honky tonks."
Country Spring Break
With: Jerrod Niemann, Steve Holy, Josh Gracin, Lee Brice, Thompson Square
When: 7 p.m. March 16
Where: 7 Flags Event Center, 2100 N.W. 100th St., Clive.
Cost: SOLDOUT!
