Joe Nichols‘ new album, Honky Tonks and Country Songs, is out. The 11-track album includes Nichols’ current single, “Better Than You,” a collaboration with Annie Bosko. The song, written by Derek George and John Pierce, was among the most-added at radio when it was released, and with good reason.
“It’s one of those rare songs that’s actually written as a duet,” Nichols tells Everything Nash. “It’s a fantastically-written song that’s written as a duet, and when we cut it, we all looked at each other like, ‘Man, we got something really good here. We need to hone in on who can make this a hit.’ I did a show with Annie Bosko right before that, in El Paso, Texas. She’s a phenomenal singer, and an incredible engager with people, and an incredibly warm person. And she looks like a star, so I was like, ‘Man, she’s got the whole package.'”
Nichols was already a fan of Bosko, but became an even bigger fan after hearing her sing her part on “Better Than You.”
“When she went in to sing it, she worked incredibly hard to make it sound like a star,” Nichols praises. “I think she’s a star, and she made it sound like it on the record. I think we blend well, which is another key thing with duets. You don’t know how it’s going to blend until you get in the thick of it, and she did it. She did a great job, and we ended up getting it right, which is a big deal.”
The 47-year-old also included a cover of the Hank Williams, Jr. classic, “Country Boy Can Survive.” It’s a surprising track that makes complete sense, as part of a project celebrating the country music Nichols loves so deeply.
“I usually stay away from covering iconic songs by iconic singers, because that’s just a surefire way to make people mad at you,” Nichols explains. “It started off as an idea, and became an actual finished thought. I started doing ‘Country Boy Can Survive’ in my shows, as a mashup with the song ‘Rooster,’ from Alice in Chains, and mashed them up into one song. When we went in to cut, we decided to cut the mashup, and we cut the full lengths of each song, and we got just a really good cut of ‘Country Boy Can Survive.’
“Better Than You” is just one of the songs that Nichols is thrilled to have on Honky Tonks and Country Songs. It’s a complete project that celebrates Nichols’ deep love of country music.
“It’s a country album,” the Arkansas native says “There are a lot of, I think, throwback-sounding songs, throwing back to ’90s country, and where I grew up, a teenager in the ’90s. It feels like a lot of those really cool, simple stories, simple melodies, catch them with a hook in three minutes. It just feels like it belongs on a jukebox in a honky tonk.”
Listen to “Better Than You” here. Find Honky Tonks and Country Songs, and all of Nichols’ music and upcoming shows, at JoeNichols.com.