‘Catch of the Day’ – Jerrod Niemann [AUDIO]

Today's catch of the day comes from an artist who has seen great success as a songwriter, having written songs for Garth Brooks, Jamey Johnson and Neil McCoy. Our spotlight falls on him on 36th birthday today.

Jerrod Niemann grew up in Liberal, KS, influenced by George Strait, Keith Whitley and Tracy Lawrence. Niemann's first musical experience was learning to play on an Lawrence autographed guitar Jerrod's mother won at a concert. After high school, Niemann went to Texas originally to attend South Plains College, but ended up playing acoustic guitar and singing in clubs and bars around the area.

Niemann self-released a debut album in 1999 called Long Hard Road, which met with little success. After moving to Nashville in 2000, he signed a developmental deal with Mercury Records, but left the company before releasing anything.

He continued touring America with his band, also touring Europe with the band Kane, which also featured singer/actor Christian Kane. Niemann signed with Category 5 Records in 2006, releasing the single "I Love Women (My Momma Can't Stand)", but as the single started to break, Category 5 closed and the associated album, Behind This Microphone, was never released.

Once again Niemann kept his dream alive by playing bars, clubs and fairs across the country, until Sea Gayle Records, a division of Arista Nashville that is co-owned by Brad Paisley signed Jerrod in 2010. His debut single for the label, "Lover, Lover" hit #1 in Australia and then in August of that year, the top of the American Country chart. His debut album Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury, featured "Lover, Lover" and three other top-20 singles, including Niemann's second #1 "What Do You Want". His second album, 2012's Free The Music was better received critically, but did not achieve the commercial success of his debut effort, featuring two singles, neither able to crack the top 15.

In late 2013, Jerrod released the single "Drink To That All Night". The single was the lead for his third album, High Noon, and became his third #1 single a month after the album's release in March, 2014. Two other singles from the album, "Donkey" and "Buzz Back Girl" were critically lambasted by the country music press and fans alike for going against the country grain. Neither single was able to crack top-35 on the charts.

Niemann is currently in the studio working on a new album, scheduled for release sometime in early 2016. The first single from that untitled, upcoming album is in our spotlight today. Jerrod Niemann and "Blue Bandana" is our Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.