Jerrod Niemann isn’t afraid to bend the rules, especially if it allows him to be authentically himself. The country music hitmaker just dropped two new songs, “Tequila Kisses” and “Ghost Rider” from his upcoming Lost & Found project, and In true Jerrod fashion, the Kansas native is releasing this music his way, and on his terms.
“That’s where the lost and found thing comes in,” Jerrod told Everything Nash. “It’s not an album. It’s not an EP. It’s an evergreen project because as I rebuild my life, I just don’t know what song I want to put out next and where it fits, in my heart or in what order. So I have about 12 songs that need to be mixed and I’ll be just working on those and putting them out on Lost & Found.”
“Tequila Kisses” was written with Lee Brice and Jon Stone, and marks Jerrod’s first-ever a cappella track — although you may not know it just by listening to it. The stunning track features 50 separate vocal parts, all sung by Jerrod and recorded in his home studio.
“I’ve always loved the Beach Boys,” Jerrod explained. “Brian Wilson is such an underrated genius. And so when I wrote ‘Tequila Kisses’ with Lee Brice and Jon Stone, it was like 12 years ago. We wrote the song the same night as another song called ‘You’ll Always Be Beautiful,’ that Blake Shelton was kind enough to record. We wrote it pretty quick. And then over the next decade, Lee, Jon myself always said that someone should record that song but we never did. So I had an idea about three years ago to try to do an a capella version.”
Jerrod not only did the vocal parts, but mimicked the sound of instruments on the song
“I had 25 vocal parts,” Jerrod explained. “So I re-sang all of them, so there would be 50. I sang them in unison with themselves to double them. And then I wanted to try to attempt to do the bass and drums vocally if I could. So I sang the bass and then I actually went over to the djembe. I would hit it and then try to make it sound like that with my voice. So I did the bass and then I’d take the shaker, and I just would sit there and practice trying to sound like a shaker.
“I was able to do the whole song with my voice or mouth,” he added. “It was just a challenge to try to be able to do it. It was fun to finally get it done.”
“I watched you leave, I watched you go / So why does it still feel like you’re next to me rolling down this road,” Jerrod sings in “Ghost Rider,” referring to his divorce after four years of marriage.
“I was just walking around the house, singing ‘Ghost Rider,’ and I just thought I heard it on the radio or something,” Jerrod recalled, speaking of the song he co-wrote with the Brad and Brett Warren, who make up the Warren Brothers, and Lance Miller. “So I started asking around some friends. I was like, ‘What is this?’ I’d hate to go write a song that’s already on the radio … Brad picked up the Stratocaster, Brett grabbed an acoustic guitar, and I was working with the computer and while we were jamming, I just hit record.”
Jerrod normally spends most of his time on the road, so this unprecedented amount of time at home because of the coronavirus pandemic, has led to both new musical and personal growth for him.
“I don’t think COVID has been a blessing for anybody, but musically it’s been a blessing because it’s allowed me to learn a lot more about myself in the studio,” Jerrod said, adding that he finally mastered learning to play the steel guitar. “When you’re out of town that much, when you wake up on the road and you’re like, where am I? That habit is still there. I’m at home. That’s a weird sensation. I’m looking for my fuse box and stuff. I guess it’s like you’re staying at a guest house. It’s been good just to get stuff done.”
Both “Tequila Kisses” and “Ghost Rider” are available at JerrodNiemannOfficial.com.
