Jerrod Niemann ready for tonight's JPJ country show

Listen to Jerrod Niemann’s “Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury” CD for a while, and you’ll get the feeling that it’s the soundtrack to one of those guilty-pleasure movies you just can’t help staying up late to watch.

The songwriter’s warm baritone brings such an earnest, self-deprecating quality to songs about drinking, waking up in the wrong country, drinking some more and answering fan mail from a listener who doesn’t like drinking songs with yet another drinking song that you’d swear the speaker of the songs is someone you went to school with. And that Matthew McConaughey or Owen Wilson must have played him on screen.

Tonight’s John Paul Jones Arena show will bring the Kansas native to the stage with white-hot country star Miranda Lambert and songwriting buddy Chris Young. It’ll give fans a chance to hear Niemann sing his No. 1 hit, “Lover, Lover,” and other songs.

To hear Niemann tell it, the On Fire 2012 tour is equal parts friendship, fun and shared reverence for the country music they all love.

“That’s the thing I love about Chris and Miranda — they’re so well versed in country music tradition,” Niemann said from California, where he was on a photo shoot for a new album to be released later this year.

Niemann said that Lambert spends time before each show making sure everyone else is fine and ready to hit the stage, lingering almost until it’s time for her to sing. He said his friend is honoring the musicians who invited her to play on their tours early in her career by passing along the same encouragement to newer artists.

“I cannot believe the thought she puts into the other artists,” Niemann said. “It is like a family, and it means a lot when someone you respect musically is like that.”

And, yes, fans just might get the chance to hear all three join forces at the microphone. “Miranda is kind enough to ask us up there to sing a little bit,” he said.

In another nod to country tradition, Niemann and his band recorded “Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury” in old-school analog. Listeners in a hurry who skip the CD’s clever intro and “outro” are missing out on part of the fun.

“The concept of that one was to make it like a show,” Niemann said.

Niemann loves the textures of analog recording — and the way it requires attention to detail.

“It’s very vintage, but at the same time, I wanted to make it something for today,” Niemann said. “When you use analog, you don’t have all the bells and whistles other people have. You do it right, or it’s not good.”

Writing the songs is Niemann’s passion. Jamey Johnson, a treasured songwriting partner, has sung Niemann’s songs, and Garth Brooks has recorded three of them.

“It’s my life,” Niemann said.

It’s partly because he’s a listener, too. Immersed in country music, Niemann always keeps an ear out for great songs.

“When I hear a song, I usually have to hear it three or four times to sink it in,” he said. He knows he’s hearing a good one “when three or four minutes of my life have passed by and I’ve been listening to the message of a song.”

Take Conway Twitty’s “That’s My Job,” for example. Niemann likes the way the song’s stubborn teen and equally stubborn father frequently butt heads but still love each other dearly.

Or Lee Brice’s “A Woman Like You,” of which Niemann said, “That ought to be screaming up the charts.” The speaker of the song playfully teases his wife when she asks how different his life would have been if they’d never met, but his devotion is evident.

Finding just the right twist to bring out something unexpected in a universal sentiment creates a song that’s rewarding for the listener. Sometimes, it’s also a chance for the songwriter to look at life a little differently.

From the title of Niemann’s “I Hope You Get What You Deserve,” one might expect a cathartic, hard-partying revenge song. Well, sometimes, it’s great to be wrong.

Niemann said that after a painful breakup with an ex-girlfriend who later moved to India to care for sick children, he picked up a goodbye song he’d already been working on. The song changed directions completely when he realized he truly wanted good things for his ex and hoped her dream to make a difference in the world would come true.

Wherever his career ends up taking him, Niemann’s life always will have a soundtrack.

“It evolves like you do. The music grows up. We grow up,” Niemann said.

“We really don’t choose music. It chooses you.”