Joe Nichols photo by Jon Smith, courtesy of Universal Records South.

Joe Nichols made a nice move this week to launch his current single, “Gimmie That Girl,” into the Top 15 on the Country Aircheck Mediabase chart. It’s the first time he’s cracked that level on the chart in more than three years, and part of the reason is likely because he connects on a personal level to the upbeat sentiment of the song.

Watch Joe’s video for “Gimmie That Girl” »

When Joe married Heather Singleton in the fall of 2007, it had a huge, calming effect on his life. They’d actually known each other as friends for more than a decade, and she’d been a rock of support for him even when everything else was kind of wacky.

“I’ve been in relationships and she’s been in relationships before, throughout the course of this time,” he says. “But we’ve always been able to talk, we’ve always been able to share, we’ve always been like the best of friends. I just got the opportunity to marry her, my best friend, which some people cannot say, so I’m a very fortunate guy.”

Joe went into rehab shortly after their wedding, and his current album, Old Things New, is the first he’s recorded since then. It was a different process for him, particularly because his mind was working differently than it had when he drank. Heather was invariably able to help him find his way through what was essentially a new experience.

“She’s a great person to bounce things off of,” Joe reasons. “She doesn’t pull a lot of punches, she doesn’t lie. She makes me be a better person, makes me get a real good grasp of who I am, who I can be, when I’m bein’ a jerk and when I’m not, what parts of me need to grow, what parts of me need to ask for forgiveness, what parts of me need to feel proud.”

“Gimmie That Girl” is doing nicely while another part of Joe’s career has been delayed. He and Lorrie Morgan are slated to appear in the Broadway production of Pure Country, which was tabbed at one time to debut at the start of the year. It’s currently projected to hit the Great White Way in the fall.

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