FLORENCE β Joe Nichols prefers his country with a heavy Southern accent and a soulful whine from pedal steel and fiddle.
You won't see him engage in hick-hop β that's country music's version of rap Β β but on Friday night at Country Thunder he performed a rap song as a country ballad.
Well, ballad might not be the right term for Nichols country cover of Sir Mix-A-Lot's party anthem "I Like Big Butts."
Funny thing was Nichols performed it with the same serious attention he pays to his growing catalogue of country hits, many of which he performed in his 90-minute concert.
"I grew up on country with Merle Haggard and Diamond Rio as a matter of fact," he told the audience, which had experienced Diamond Rio an hour earlier.Β
Nichols did one other cover in his set, a soulful rendition of Haggard's "Footlights" in which he looked like he was on the verge of tearing up.Β
His show was a rewind of his career to date β "The Impossible," "Brokenheartsville," "I Hate the Way I Love You" β and a fast-forward to today β "Yeah," "Y'ant it," "Hee Haw," "Sunny and 75."Β
But it also was a reminder of why many of us go to Country Thunder: to hear twangy, tradition-seeped country music where adding a fiddle and bass line can reimagine a rap song as a country ballad.Β
