On Monday, August 23rd, Jerrod Niemann gathered his friends, family as well as industry professionals to celebrate his number one hit “Lover, Lover” on Music Row in Nashville. At the party, Jerrod shared that the feeling of topping the charts is one he is still trying to get a handle on, calling it “very overwhelming and hard to grasp.” He explained, “It’s definitely an unbelievable feeling, mostly for the fact that I got to experience it with so many people that have hung in there with me through the years and also with a label that’s trusted in all of our creativity…So, just to get to experience a number one single with everybody that you believe in and care to make music with is an unbelievable feeling.” 

Watch Jerrod’s music video for “Lover, Lover” here.  

Although Jerrod is a noted songwriter himself, penning Garth Brooks’ 2005 hit “Good Ride Cowboy” along with many of the tracks on his debut album Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury, he didn’t have a hand in writing “Lover, Lover.” The tune in fact is a cover of a 1992 hit by group Sonia Dada and was originally titled “You Don’t Treat Me No Good.” Sonia Dada founder Daniel Pritzker wrote the song 18 years ago after his morning ritual of waking up to his wife’s coffee didn’t quite go as planned. Daniel, who attended Monday’s event, explained, “I woke up and Karen hadn’t made coffee and had taken [our daughter] Nancy for a walk in the park and so I put the kettle on the stove and picked up a guitar and wrote, ‘lover, lover, you don’t treat me no good no more.’ And that’s really how the song came about.”

When Daniel received the news that his song had been recorded once again, he admitted that he was pretty surprised. He recalled, “About four months ago, the folks at BMI called me up and said that a country artist named Jerrod Niemann had cut my song and that they thought we had a hit. This was a phone call that was completely out of the blue. I mean, really out of the blue, but I was thrilled.” Daniel continued, “He had a formidable task and acquitted himself beautifully trying to cop the vocals that Sam [Hogan], Paris [Delane] and Michael [Scott], the original singers on the track, did. They are formidable singers. And, I had heard that Jerrod did all of the vocals and that is impressive.”

For Jerrod, getting the chance to meet Daniel for the first time was important to him not only as a fan but as a fellow songwriter. Jerrod said, “I love claiming songwriting as something dear to my heart. I’m a fan of his music so I get to meet someone that I look up to outside of our format.” He added, “I really want to stress that a great song – since I didn’t write it, I can say it – a great piece of art can translate to many different people. It’s not just tied down to one format and genre.”

Check out more on Jerrod Niemann in Artist to Watch.

Currently, Jerrod is prepping to hit the road with Gary Allan and Randy Houser on Gary’s Get Off On The Pain Tour, which kicks off September 16th in Salt Lake City. On September 27th, Jerrod is set to release his next single “What Do You Want,” a song which he co-wrote with frequent collaborator Richie Brown and Rachel Bradshaw, who just so happens to be football great Terry Bradshaw’s daughter. In the meantime,  you can hear our exclusive interview with Jerrod here.

Image courtesy of Sony Music Nashville

Nikita Palmer for Citadel Digital © 2010

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