Throughout this summer, Mike’s Hard's ongoing Grilled Series has been featuring several musical acts, most recently, Jerrod Niemann — a great singer and songwriter who can also hold his own on the grill.

For the Grilled Series, Niemann gives two acoustic performances, one of "Blue Bandana" (for which a music video was just released) and the other of "One More Drinkin' Song," both of which you can watch below. The singer also sat down with Mike's Hard's to talk about his own summertime memories of grilling and lake lounging as well as his future hopes for his music.

"We'd always go to a few different lakes," Niemann recalls. "We would go water skiing, cooking out, playing horseshoes. I think that's what makes summer so much fun is ... you get to spend all that time with your family and your friends."

Growing up in Kansas, Niemann's family was all about the grill -- especially his dad, whom the country star calls a "total grill master," adding, "I think, growing up, we cooked out just as much as we cooked in."

Following in his dad's footsteps, the singer says that he cooks out so much at home that his wife "put in a complaint."

"And I do think that's because, as a kid, that's what you see your parents do, and you just want to be like them," Niemann says. "Right now, it's bringing a smile to my face just thinking about it."

Right up there with Niemann's love for grilling is his love for creating music and sharing it with fans. For him, the ability to transport listeners -- especially those going through difficult times -- to a more positive place is incredibly important.

"In this world right now, everybody seems to be focused in on bad news," Niemann explains. "Some things we can't even imagine some people are going through."

So when his fans take their hard-earned money and spend it on one of his shows, Niemann believes that it's his job to make it worth their while.

"The least we can do as entertainers is take their minds to somewhere special and try to show them that not everything is bad news all the time," he continues.

Niemann is hard at work on a new album, which he says combines all of his other records "in a blender" and takes musical chances. He's focusing more on whether the songs resonate with him and less on their radio-friendly potential.

And, of course, he hopes that while his fans are listening to his music, they're manning a grill or hitting up a tailgate.

"If somebody looks back at my music someday, and it still matters, stands the test of time, I hope it's something they can crank up when they are outside grilling out, or tailgating," Niemann says. "That's pretty much where my mind is when I think about the music that I make."

Jerrod Niemann Performs "Blue Bandana":

Jerrod Niemann Performs "One More Drinkin' Song":

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