American Songwriter News

Joe Nichols has spent three decades leaving his mark in country music. Throughout that time, he released albums like Man with a Memory, Real Things, Crickets, and his last, Honky Tonks & Country Songs, in 2024. Although not finished with his career just yet, the singer has watched the industry drastically change with the surge of artificial intelligence. While countless creatives have criticized the use of AI in the entertainment industry, Nichols admitted that more artists in Nashville are using the technology than they'd like to admit.
When discussing AI in music with Evan Paul at Taste of Country, Nichols didn't hold back when it came to the technology being used today. "I've heard artists say this. 'I don't use any AI. I don't use any Suno for my stuff.' Bull crap. I'm telling you, I've seen singers out there give interviews where they're like 'I don't do that. I don't do that.' I'm telling you for a fact, LIE. They're lying through their teeth."
Nichols placed himself in that same group. When working on his latest song, "Say La V," the singer admitted that writers Jason Sellers, Lance Miller, and Brett Warren used AI programs like Suno to help present a polished idea. "They came up with a catchy melody. And then they put it through one of those AI-generating, 'What would this song sound like if it had these prompts?' And it came out really super catchy."
While Nichols was impressed with Suno's abilities, he considered the song "too pop." But as time passed, the singer found he couldn't get the song out of his head. He then decided to return to the studio to record a more country version to fit his tone and style.
Understanding that AI was here to stay, Nichols hoped to find the perfect balance between artists and technology. "I've written some things that I put into Suno or one of those to see if I'm looking at it the way other people would look at it, the algorithm would look at it. Do I hear this song as a bluesy Gospel song, or does it come out as a bluegrass song, and a different vibe completely? So it is helpful to tell you if you're on the right track."
Using AI as another tool in the recording process, Nichols promised that the voice fans hear will always be his. "The singers on Suno are amazing. I don't use those because the singers from Suno are the best singers in the world combined as one singer. So it's impossible to do something as good as Suno.

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