Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert called "match made in heaven"

(CBS News) Rising country music star Jerrod Niemann has learned a thing or two from fellow country artists Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton. He has said he learned from Lambert what to do on-stage and what to do off-stage with Shelton.

He said on "CBS This Morning," "You know when you see Miranda, she's a tough girl. She'll tell ya. She's her own security. But behind all the guns, knives and cuss words, there's a really sweet person. ... You learn certain fundamentals (with them). Blake definitely isn't scared to crack open a brewski."

Niemann said the time on tour with the two stars "answers a lot of questions." He said, "After hanging out with her for six months and hanging out with Blake Shelton about six months last year, I see why they are a match made in heaven."

Niemann's new hit is called "Shinin' on Me." He's been in the spotlight since 2010, when "Lover, Lover" hit No. 1. His first major album, "Judge Jerrod & the Hung Jury" debuted at the top of Billboard's country chart. He's releasing his follow-up album Tuesday called "Free the Music."

But the singer/songwriter hasn't always been at the top of the industry. While in school at South Plains College, he said he realized how far he had to go and that, at the time, he wasn't very good. He said, "When you're in a small town, maybe you're the only person that sings and plays guitar everybody thinks you're good. But when you go to college, you realize you have a lot of work to do. I remember playing my first song I had written as a teenager ... for my instructor (and) he said, 'I bet that's your mom' favorite song.' I said, 'How'd you know?' He said, 'Because it's horrible. Only your mom could like that.' You learn the fundamentals of song writing. ... Obviously with art and music there's no rules, but commercially you got to stick to it."

For more with Neimann, including talk about how a skating rink helped him get interested in country music and the use of horns in his music, watch the video in the player above.