Joe Nichols Says He’s Out of ‘Pure Country’

Joe Nichols was the epitome of excitement when he found out he'd be hitting the Broadway stage. It was announced in early 2009 that the singer had signed on to star in the Broadway adaptation of 'Pure Country,' based on the 1992 movie starring George Strait.

The show was scheduled to open by the winter of 2010 in the Big Apple, but that, of course, has not happened and Joe acknowledges the show is pretty much in limbo. "I'm not sure when or if the show is going to continue," Joe tells The Boot. "As far as my part of the show. It's not looking likely at all.

"It's pretty positive that if the show were to continue, I probably won't be a part of it just for time sake," Joe continues. "We were able to commit to a pretty sizable amount of time at one time for the show, and when that timeline changed, of course, that made it immediately impossible for us to do the show. I'm not sure if the show will go on. My hope is that it will because it sounds like an incredible situation for somebody, and a good thing for country music. Hopefully they'll get it together and put on a show and, if so, I'm going to go up and watch it."

In January 2010, even though the rehearsals had been delayed, he was still holding out hope that things would materialize and the show would go on. "I'm excited," Joe said of the venture. "I don't think anybody expects me to jump out of the box and be this Broadway sensation or anything like that. The pressure is kind of low. First of all, [I'll be] singing country songs which I do every night anyway. I'm playing a country singer, which I already am. It doesn't seem like that far of a stretch! New York's never heard of me, so there's nobody keeping their eyeballs on me expecting me to do great things. I think the only thing I'm going to try to remember is to go up to New York and have a little bit of fun and represent Nashville in country music in a classy way, and maybe try to get away from a little bit of the 'thumbs-in-the-belt-loops,' 'aw shucks,' 'howdy partner' kind of stigma that New York seems to have on us."

Joe was also looking forward to working with fellow country star Lorrie Morgan. "I think she's a great fit for the character," Joe said. "Country fans are very familiar with her. She brings a lot to the show. She's a great singer, a great entertainer, and just her name value is pretty big. She's a wonderful lady."

Joe's tour schedule picks up after the New Year. Check out cities and dates here.