For rising artist Josh Mirenda, the neon-soaked dream of country music stardom started before he was born. 

At eight months pregnant, his mom moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to help her sister make a splash on Music Row. As a result, Mirenda can’t remember the first time he sat in for a writers’ round, watched a demo session or caught a showcase of hitmaking hopefuls. It’s just always been part of his life. 

Or, in his words: “I would love to say I ‘chose’ doing music for a living, but honestly I think it chose me,” Mirenda said. 

Now, Mirenda – a Platinum-selling country songwriter who’s largely operated as a behind-the-scenes talent – eyes a new chapter in his country music story with the release of Wind Up, a 13-song debut album out now via Average Joes Entertainment. And, with a collection of arena-ready anthems chronicling mile-a-minute love and beer-bottled truths, Wind Up proves that Mirenda’s lifetime in country music is just getting started. 

“I am winding up for what I hope will be a LONG career in country music,” he said about the album. “I hope that it makes the listener excited to hear more.” 

Prior to Wind Up, Mirenda spent years cutting his teeth on Music Row, writing songs alongside some of the most sought-after storytellers in country music. He landed songs on releases by Jason Aldean, Parmalee, Brantley Gilbert … and the list goes on. In 2017, he co-wrote Dierks Bentley megahit “Somewhere On A Beach,” which earned ASCAP Song of the Year, a coveted industry honor. 

And after all that time backstage, Mirenda finally steps into the limelight with Wind Up. After all, he never meant for the songwriting room to be a final stop in his story. 

“I was blessed and fortunate enough to land some hits with other artists and I guess it worked out,” Mirenda said, laughing. “All of those years writing for other people showed me who I really was as an artist. I think you never really have the ‘right time’ to go for it.” 

He continued, “if you want it you just have to go for it and that’s why I’m here as an artist. I wanted to give it a shot. I feel like that’s why I’m in this world.” 

For Wind Up, Mirenda enlisted a who’s-who of songwriting buddies. The album features co-writes from Ashley Gorley (the powerhouse hitmaker behind 60+ No. 1 country songs), Rhett Akins (who received the Academy of Country Music’s inaugural Songwriter of the Decade Award in 2020), Dallas Davidson (who’s co-written smash hits by Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton) and Brett James (who won a Grammy Award for his work on Carrie Underwood staple “Jesus, Take The Wheel”), among others. Mirenda cut the album with producer Nick Gibbens (Thomas Rhett, Bryan Martin, Marty Stuart) in multiple Nashville studios. 

The album opens with title track “Wind Up,” a can’t-miss track about living each night without looking in the rear-view. From there, Wind Up delivers a story of foot-on-the-pedal love in “Mile A Minute,” outlines a hard-driving habit that can’t be kicked in “Nicotine, Whiskey and You,” transports listeners to a back-road romance in “Dancing On A Dirt Road” and revisits “Somewhere On A Beach” for an acoustic rendition of the song that helped make his career. 

On standout track “In A Beer,” Mirenda finds life lessons in a long-neck bottle. He sings, “A lot can happen in a beer/ You can fall in love or get your heart broke … you can make a memory as good as gold.” 

And on Wind Up single “‘Til The Neon’s Gone,” Mirenda sketches a love that’ll burn as long as the lights in a beloved honky-tonk bar. 

An unabashed heart-throbbing tune, he croons in the chorus, “And I’m gonna love you ’til the Neon’s gone/ ‘Til there’s no whiskey left in honky-tonks/ ‘Til there ain’t dirt roads in country songs/ And steel guitars don’t play. Yeah, when that crowd forgets that we’re around/ And you feel like those lights ain’t shining down/ I’ll still be here, I’ll still be hanging on/ ‘Cause I’m gonna love you ’til the neon’s gone.” 

“Neon is probably one of, if not my favorite song I have written,” Mirenda said. “It’s just a different way of telling the one you love that you ain’t going anywhere and you are in it forever.”

The album also features an unlikely guest in pro golfer John Daly. An avid fan of the game and friend of Daly, Mirenda enlisted his club-swinging buddy for “Mini Bar,” a whiskey-soaked country romp. 

“He invites me to play in pro-ams often so it was only fitting I asked him to be a part of this record,” Mirenda said. “I’m excited for everyone to hear ‘Mini Bar,’ but I am more excited for the music video. That will be one for the books.” 

And Mirenda has already taken his collection of new songs on the road, sharing stages with Chris Young, Easton Corbin, Dylan Scott and others – proof that he’s only winding up in this lifelong game of country music. 

“Making my first album was something I will never forget,” he said. “It was exciting, it was terrifying, it wasn’t easy, but it was more than rewarding and worth it. All of the people involved with making this record are the absolute best at what they do and I am blessed to have them be a part of this.”

Listen to his debut album here: http://averagejoesent.co/windupalbum