It doesn’t matter if you’re a country music fan. Jerrod Niemann will pull you in when he hits the stage at the WWETT Show Industry Appreciation Party on Feb. 19.

“You have to be aware of what you’re around,” says Niemann, country music star. “If you’re doing your own show or people are there just because of you it’s one thing. If you are part of a party that has already existed for many years, we try to be a chameleon of sorts. We’ll do our own songs, but we’ll also throw in a couple different ones, too, from rock and blues and everything.”

No matter what he sings, Niemann promises a fun time for everyone at the Indiana Convention Center’s Sagamore Ballroom. “There’s just something to be said about being around people who are pretty much just like you — hardworking, small-town Americans,” Niemann says. “For me, I love being out there and hanging out with everybody.”

IN HIS BLOOD

Country music has always been in Niemann’s blood, and he thanks his mother for that: “I was doomed from the beginning, hearing country music from the womb. My parents ran a bar when my mom was pregnant with me, and I think hearing all those country songs on the jukebox got me going.”

From an early age, Niemann was influenced by country acts such as Lefty Frizzell, Keith Whitley and George Strait. After graduating from high school, he attended South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, pursuing an Associate of Arts degree. He began his professional career by singing and playing acoustic guitar in Texas clubs and bars.

“I did that for about a year, just my guitar and me,” he says. “Then I moved to Nashville and started working there. Music is such an amazing thing to be a part of that once you’ve been bitten by the bug, there is no way out of it. It’s just who you are.”

In 2010, Niemann signed with record label Arista Nashville and released his debut single, “Lover, Lover.” It became his first Top 40 single on the country music charts, and in August 2010 it hit No. 1. Since then, Niemann has released four albums: Judge Jerrod & the Hung Jury, Free the Music, Yellow Brick Road and High Noon. In 2013, his single “Drink to That All Night” hit No. 4 on the U.S. country charts and No. 1 on U.S. country airplay charts.

NEW MUSIC

“I got my foot in the door writing songs in Nashville, and it’s always fun being able to write your own material,” Niemann says. “Every once in a while you find a song you wish you had written.” One of those songs is “Blue Bandana,” released in July. The song will be a part of his new album set for release later this year.

“When I heard the song, it just took me to so many cool places and really took me to a lot of cool faces, too,” Niemann says. The song tells the story of a fan attending concerts wearing the same blue bandana and the singer noticing it each time. “Just traveling this country you see a lot of people who are kind enough to pack up in their cars and do a road trip spending their hard-earned money to see us. I’ve never really done a song that is a thank-you to those folks out there, but this song does that.”

The new album will combine music he’s done before — a country/rock mix — and the more traditional country sound. “It’s a wide array of music,” Niemann says. He’ll perform some of the songs from that album at the WWETT Show and hopes everyone can relax and forget work and any troubles.

“The real world can be quite a hard place at times, and if we can be the guys to get that off their minds for at least 90 minutes, then we’ve done our jobs,” Niemann says. “I just always try to keep a thread of laughter and craziness at our shows if we can.”