The magic men behind the music

ELIZABETHTOWN – On a very hot and humid night in E-Town, two incredible bands rolled into town as a part of the Cape Fear Vineyard & Winery summer concert tour.

The prime billing drew fans from all across the nation as Joe Nichols took the stage to perform with his band and took the crowd by storm right off the bat. The packed crowd at the steamy outdoor venue was finely tuned after a memorable performance by the opening band, Dirty Grass Soul who hailed from Shelby, North Carolina, and have been around for 15 years.

Dirty Grass Soul is a very diverse band that has roots in the North Carolina foothills music. According to their bio, “Dirty Grass Soul manages to bring a new, refreshed and re-energized sound to their music that falls somewhere between country, bluegrass and southern rock and roll reminiscent of acts like The Charlie Daniels Band and The Marshall Tucker Band. Rather than simply relying on heavy guitar leads, the band offers instrumentation that mixes in a heavy dose of fiddle, pedal steel guitar and banjo.”

The band was founded by Kevin Dedmon (fiddle, vocals and guitar), Lance Watson (bass and mandolin) who is remembered for his barefoot look on a Persian rug, Tommy Smith – the iconic electric guitar master, Kris Dedmon (banjo and vocals) and Alex Sims is the new drummer who has officially played eight shows with the band.

“I loved the venue,” Kevin Dedmon said. “This was our fourth time playing the winery and always enjoy performing there. The staff and everyone are great to work with and the facility itself is gorgeous. I think it’s one of Eastern North Carolina’s hidden gems.”

The began with a bang and maintained an intensity in their music that spoke to the hearts of the people. They say when people get up and dance on their own without an invitation – it’s a huge compliment. The crowd could not quiet their feet.

By the end of the concert the band changed things up and catered to those living in the Bible Belt, breaking into the old Albert Brumley hymn “I’ll Fly Away.” With encouragement from Dedmon, the crowd carried the chorus and a rock and roll revival started to break out.

North Carolinian Billy Graham was most likely somewhere smiling ear to ear.

As Dirty Grass Soul began to break down the equipment – anticipation was at a fever pitch waiting for Joe Nichols. From the first downbeat, his signature whoop and holler and booming baritone voice had the crowd – crowded around the stage area.

Nichols’ smooth and effortless voice according to Power & Light is reminiscent of a Dean Martin croon from another generation and genre. Some say he can both sooth a crowd with his voice as easily as he can invoke a “jump-to-the-dance” wild mentality. When he released his duet “Better Than You,” with Annie Bosko he peeled back yet another layer of the onion. We could also comment about “Wings of a Dove” that brings a whole other level of anointing as he sang it at Anna Nicole Smith’s funeral.

E-town had it all. The lights, the music and all the emotions and transparency that makes Joe Nichols a premium artist. Most don’t know that the talented man behind the guitar is and always will be a small-town boy at heart. He was also a bicentennial baby.

“I was born in Rogers, Arkansas,” he said. “It was 1976, but don’t tell anyone. We were near Bentonville which was the birthplace of Walmart. I graduated from Rogers High School; The Mounties. Before that, I lived in King, North Carolina, for about three years and then in 10^th-grade I moved back to Rogers.”

His love for music came in the ‘80s and ‘90s and he, like a lot of successful musicians today was in a band.

“In those days, if you wanted to be in a band, it had to be a rock band,” he said. “Nobody formed a country band for high school teenagers. When I moved back to Arkansas, I went to state fair where they had a karaoke contest – and I did that. Also, certain bands would let you sit in on nights that they let underaged minors into the clubs. That’s the kind of stuff I would do until I could get to a place where I could form my own band.”

Nichols bought his first guitar at 12 years of age and had an immediate love for music.

“I was kind of a weird guy in high school,” he said. “I loved George Strait, Merle Haggard, Randy Travis, Keith Lawrence and I was into that type of country. Every now and then I’d break away to get into some rock, but I was really into the grunge stuff that was coming out. Bands like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Motley Crue. It was the either/or in high school. You were either the agriculture bunch where you had to do a lot of farm stuff or you were in the rock singing group – wearing the black T-shirts. I was a mix between those two worlds.”

Nichols has developed the trifecta of the music industry – with equal talent in singing, playing guitar and writing songs. He also has the ability to collaborate or fit into anyone who gets onstage.

“In guitar playing, I wish I was better than I am,” he said. “But for a country guy you can get away with it. As Harlen Howard (American songwriter) would say, ‘three chords and the truth, son.’ As far as the writing and singing go, I’ve always believed in great songs. No matter where they come from.”

He says that he has always wanted to write great songs and along the way he has accomplished that feat releasing nine studio albums which have produced 14 top 40 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts. Just a few of his No. 1 hits include “Brokenheartsville,” “Tequilla Makes Her Clothes Fall Off,” and “Gimme That Girl” to name just a few.

“I’ve been fortunate to write a few really good songs and some that have had good chart success,” he said. “Those weren’t necessarily the same songs. I’ve written some catchy songs and I’ve some deep songs. I think the songs I’m writing today are actually better quality songs than I’ve ever written before. This may speak to how I’ve grown up a little bit.”

Nichols said that in the past few years he has put more time into writing songs than in all of the first part of his career.

“With writing, it’s more about catching yourself in a groove,” he said. “Like… you can bang your head against a wall and try to write something good, but if you are just not in a groove, it’s just grueling stuff. You have to kind of be in a magic spot in your brain where you create it and it makes sense. That catches people’s attention and they respond to it.”

He admits that those explosive moments in the world of songwriting don’t happen every day. If they did – people would have hundreds of songs out each month. It’s living for the moments when things click and the universe comes together and life in that exact moment has clarity not only to yourself – but to the audience you are writing for and it is so relatable that it not only changes your life, but others as well. It really is life changing music when you hit that groove.

“I saw an interview with (Bob) Dylan one time,” he said. “He was very brutally honest about his writing as he said, ‘You know, one time I had just a magic; something would capture me and I was able to magically write it down somehow play it and remember it. Somewhere along the way I just stopped connecting with that magic whatever that was.”

He calls songs that come straight from the heart as a “joyful release,” and he has experienced that on more than a few occasions. He tells about one song in particular that will always stay with him. He released it Oct. 25, 2025.

“There’s a song on my third album, I think, called ‘Just a Little More,’” he said. “I’ve written some stuff in the past year that is probably in a different way, so much better, but as far as ‘Just a Little More,’ it’s about basically having the brain of a person that is never satisfied with anything. That life is just a series of wanting or needing something a little more – no matter what it is, I’ve got to have a little more and I’m not happy until I get it.”

Nichols actually collaborated with a friend and wrote that song in 20 minutes, walked it over to the studio and did a full acoustic demo of it. By 12:30 he had a demo in his hand. You walk onstage with that type of energy and you are on top of the world.

Then there are the times when you walk onstage and fighting for every scrap of encouragement you can get. The crowd is not into something you feel they should be really listening to and the seriousness of “it’s not as serious about this as it is to me,” comes ringing through your head like an obnoxious gong.

“Oh man, I’ve quit in my head so many times,” he said. “After being disappointed in myself or a situation or circumstance. And I’ll tell you this. I’ve been ridin’ the wave on top of the world and felt like quitting. Probably more so then than in the valleys between successes. Ridin’ a couple of number ones in a row, doing everything an artist would want to do and yet, felt the lowest of lows – completely talking myself into the disappointment of myself. Whether that may be a nightly performance or just something I’ve said. Coming up with the thought that it just wasn’t good enough.”

It comes when you reach that pinnacle and set a bar high. Fear comes and tells you that you can never achieve that ever again. The thoughts may then turn to looking at your place in the world fading away and everything coming to an end.

“Parker McCollum (American singer-songwriter) just recently shared that vulnerablitity,” he said. “Saying essentially the same thing, ‘Some nights I walk off stage and tell myself I’m just terrible at this. I quit.”

He concludes that something psychotic happens in the space between the brain and the reality of success that just doesn’t make sense to a normal thinker.

“It doesn’t make sense to my wife (Heather Singleton) sometimes, the things that I say,” he said. “The emotions that I attach to situations and she tells me that’s not normal. I just think, well, this is kind of an abnormal life and an abnormal job. My wife would say I’m a little bit sensitive when I get punched in the gut. Now… there are guys in this business that have thick skin and really can roll with the punches a lot better than I can and I really do admire them.”

And there are performers out there that perform for themselves, not caring about the thoughts and words of others.

What makes Joe Nichols different from them is his integrity and his refusal to quit when his life got tough. He wears his heart on his sleeve and those are the kind of people that would give the homeless the shirt off their back.

It’s hard to tell how many shirts Nichols has given away – but with each performance you get something greater. You get transparency. You get a glimpse of the man who gives away everything to his audience because, yes – he cares that much about those that have paid to see him and even those who don’t. He makes his audience – family. And you leave that musical dinner table – full and satisfied.

And for those of us who will remember a phrase, a quip or a story from that stage – and find ourselves humming or singing out loud one of his songs – it’s all evidence that he packed you a doggy bag so we have something for tomorrow.