Joe Nichols has a brand-new song out now, and it’s one that is deeply personal to him. The Arkansas native just released “Fight The Good Fight,” a song he wrote with Jason Sellers and Paul Jenkins, about overcoming challenges in his own life. “Fighting The Good Fight” is the first release from Nichols’ forthcoming next record.

“I wanted to write a lot for this album, because I wanted to write a lot about my story,” Nichols tells Everything Nash. “I wanted to make this album very personal to me. Not just songs that I found that I like. But I wanted to write a lot of this. I wanted to be a part of the message, start to finish. And so, we started writing this day, knowing that I wanted to write a lot of this about me.

“We started to write this simple message of always having to struggle, from the time I was a little kid to the time presently speaking,” he adds.

How Joe Nichols’ Own Life Inspired “Fighting The Good Fight”

Now sober, Nichols has been open about his own struggles, including growing up in a household with a father prone to anger. “Fighting The Good Fight” begins with, “I learned the fear of God / Through the fist of a man / Daddy did the preaching with his left hand / His tough love was a little too rough / But that’s how I grew up.”

“I don’t think I’m unlike anybody else,” Nichols maintains. “I just happened to be with a pen and a piece of paper, and a guitar in my hand, able to write it down. We’re all fighting, on a daily basis, some kind of fight. Throughout my life, I’ve had to overcome struggles many times. But I kept on fighting. And I always will keep on fighting, I hope.

“And I think that’s the message to everybody else, to keep fighting the good fight,” he continues. “Be on the right side of things. Fight for the good reasons. Fight the good fight as the Bible tells us. Paul tells us, love each other and fight the good fight. And that song is just a simple, powerful message.”

What Joe Nichols Says About Sharing His Personal Story in “Fighting The Good Fight”

Nichols is vocal about his hardships and challenges, but he is quick to point out his isn’t unique.

“I always feel uncomfortable trying to make my story out worse than anybody else’s story,” Nichols maintains. “We all have a past, and we all have a difficult past. Everything’s kind of relative to your surroundings, I guess. Some people that I’m in circles with today find my story really wild. But my family doesn’t find it wild. It’s just kind of normal. The people that I grew up with experienced just as much chaos and wild stuff as I did, maybe more.”

Nichols’ own father passed away in 2002. While he sings about the way he was raised, the singer-songwriter is quick to deflect any anger or animosity.

“I don’t ever want to assign blame to anybody for the way things were for me,” Nichols says. “Hell, I’ve caused myself more damage than anybody else. … The first part of the song, about my childhood being rough –it was rough. And I think a lot of people’s childhood was rough. So my Pops was a pretty physical guy. But, I don’t think he’s a bad father or anything like that. So that’s kind of what I want people to take away from this, is that I’m not trashing my Pops for being a violent guy. It’s just the way we were. And we were raised in a home that was pretty loud and a little chaotic —  really chaotic — and fairly violent.

“My home was not nearly as bad as some I’ve heard,” he concludes. “And then as the song goes, it becomes more about me, and what I think inside my head, and overcoming in my mind. I view the devil as all around everywhere. And that’s what the ‘Fighting The Good Fight’ is about, fighting that devil.”

“Fighting The Good Fight” is available at JoeNichols.com. Nichols is part of the all-star lineup for the 2027 Country Music Cruise, joined by Clint Black, Wynonna Judd, The Bellamy Brothers, Neal McCoy, Wade Hayes, Billy Dean, Darryl Worley, The Malpass Brothers, Jimmy Fortune, Rhonda Vincent, and more.

Photo Credit: Riker Brothers