You Ain't Seen Country Yet

It's not a sight you're apt to see much in posh Bergen County, New Jersey. Joel Nelson, face partially obscured by a black cowboy hat and a large guitar, stomps through a few uptempo cowboy killer numbers. "You ain't seen country yet," he howls and the Ridgewood Coffee Company's young, artsy crowd shouts in applauds.

Around these parts, he's right – they ain't seen country yet. But he plans to change all that.

"I'm the only country guy around here for miles," the 19-year-old southwest transplant said in an interview with Patch after his Monday night open mic performance.

Originally from Emerson, Nelson grew up in Utah and Amarillo, Texas. He bought his first guitar at 8, took a few lessons in Westwood and taught himself the rest as he traded New Jersey for the southwest.

Originally impressed with the usual influences like Blink-182, the country bug really hit him when he heard Jason Aldean play, he said.

"He's something of an idol of mine," Nelson said, relaying the story of Aldean's late start in music, his sudden fall and subsequent chart-topping resurgence.

Still, that doesn't mean the Jason Aldean, Waylon Jennings and Blake Shelton-influenced cowboy doesn't have a brand all his own.

"I like to blend a bit of other styles," he said, suddenly jumping to Chris Brown's R&B hit "Deuces" with a country twang–part Garth Brooks but somewhat reminiscent of MTV darling Bruno Mars, his voice soaring above the chords.

While some genres in contemporary musical America portray the lavish lifestyles of indulgence, country music is a decidedly more modest outpost, he said.

"Country music is about the everyday life. It doesn't discriminate. I'm not singing about cars, getting girls [or] money," he said, alluding to the all-too-common themes of rap and pop. "Country really is the tale of the regular guy. It's like, it's OK to be vulnerable to millions of people and still be loud."

Having moved back to the Garden State in June, Nelson admits country is certainly not the default musical tone of North Jersey and it can lead to a bit of guff from the natives. But the response to his music has been positive thus far.

"The best compliment I can get is when someone stops me and says, 'That's actually a country song? Wow, I can get into that,'" he said.

After about a decade in "God's Country," the lifestyle is taking some getting used to, he admits. The pace is a bit faster, the outward friendliness in the south isn't as apparent and he's yet to spot another cowboy hat trudging down Bergen's streets. (A man is expected to take off his hat when greeting a woman, but never for another man, he told Patch. "It's the cowboy code," he said.)

But he's here now and under his cowboy code, Nelson has plans to record more original songs and make a record.

If music doesn't work out? Admitting it's a long-shot, Nelson said he'd really like to have his own ranch. "Being outside, working hard. I'd rather kick s––– than waste away in an office."

There's another fallback, too. "My biggest dream is to be a rodeo man," he said.

Humble and talented, Nelson said he's leaving the next steps in the hands of others. Still, restless as he is, hard work is something bound to be in the equation whether it's in music, ranching or on the backs of bulls.

"You can't be famous if you do nothing," he smiled beneath his black hat.