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The up and coming country star Joe Nichols has traditional country in his blood. His grandfather and father were both truck driving amateur singers in their own right and straightforward guitar country must be in the young man's blood. With influences like that, Nichols was passionate about his music from an early age. He sang and played bass at the world famous honkytonk Rippy's in Nashville to make spare change. He caught the attention of the local scenesters and had a deal with Intersound Records by the time he was 19. But like a hard-luck character out of one of his songs, Intersound went bankrupt before Nichols could release an album. But rather than give into despair, Nichols stayed in it for the music and ended up inking a deal with Universal South. Along with gifted guitarist Brent Rowan, he recorded his full length debut, the winkingly titled Man With A Memory. The album rolled out to massive critical praise and earned Joe three Grammy nominations. The second single, "Brokenheartsville," was Nichols' first number one and the breezy, old-fashioned slice of twang won him an instant audience. He also made sure to tip his hat-a simple Stetson, thank you very much, nothing flashy-to those who came before, covering Gene Watson's "Farewell Party," Iris DeMent's "No Time to Cry" and the album's title track is a little-known Waylon Jennings cut. Man's got good taste in music! Even after achieving stardom, Joe Nichols wasn't too big-headed to keep playing the Grand Ole Opery where he got his start.

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