The critics have been buzzing over the past few months, and with good reason, about the music of Adam Hood. The Alabama native has been receiving a lot of attention due to his musically diverse album "The Shape Of Things." Hood said that this is the type of attention he likes.

"I can't explain how good that makes me feel," said Hood. "This is the second studio album that I've released, and probably the fifth album in a chain. Going through it, you always want to be true to yourself and your music, art, and craft. You also want to be true to the people that come out and see you, and you never know what is going to happen. I never know if people are going to say 'This album is terrible.' So, anytime I can get a good pat on the back, I'll take it."

Hood was recently in Music City filming a new music video. He was quick to share the details with Billboard.com.

"Today's shoot was for the second single from the record, 'Hell Of A Fight.' The premise of the video was to kind of take my struggle and my fight and intermingle it with footage of a girl who is a waitress, and we also used a guy who was at Home Depot, and a guy who worked in a garage -- struggles that we all go through, to be honest with you with the fight of just trying to make a buck, and trying to support your family. We just tried to show the struggle of what we all go through."

Hood's fortunes took a giant leap upward after Miranda Lambert caught his show. "I was playing a show in New Braunfels, TX at a place called Tavern On The Gruene," he recalls. "It was a Tuesday night thing they do with Ray Wylie Hubbard, and he does a songwriter's show, and they broadcast it on the Americana station down there. I was playing there. I was told by Miranda's mom that their car broke down that night, so instead of getting it fixed and driving on , they said 'Let's give it a night, go get a place to stay, and have a drink.' They walked in, and we were playing. I finished my set up, and she came up and introduced herself to me. I gave her the CD's that I had out then. A few weeks later, she and her mom both called, and said they couldn't stop listening to the record. They invited me to play her birthday party in Chicago."

That exposure led to even more good things. "Then, I started going on the road with her, and she introduced me to Frank Liddell, who with Carnival Music, put out the record, and I've been writing for him the past four years. So, I owe her the world. We toured together for a while, and anytime something would happen with a support act, they would call and ask if I could do a couple of shows, and I would get to open for her - by myself. It's been really nice. They've been as big of cheerleaders as anyone in the business."

Hood says that Carnival and Liddell have been great fits for what he does as a writer. "As far as how the structure of how things in Nashville works, it seems like a writers' town or business town rather than a live music town. There's plenty of live music, but the majority of the people on Music Row are in publishing companies or in administrative positions. For someone like me, I'm a little bit left of center when it comes to writing songs. I write for myself, and I don't know if I could write for anyone else. I've always asked Frank 'What do you expect from me? I want to be a company man, and do what you want me to do.' He said 'Write good songs.' So, I go in there everyday with that one thing in mind. That's all they have ever expected from me, and it's never been a bad relationship. I couldn't ask for better. I don't know if I could survive in Nashville without Carnival Music."

Besides having success with the new single, what would Hood would love to see in his future for 2012? "Touring, writing. Things are really going well for me right now. I'm getting good cuts. I'm happy, and I'm just going to try to keep life balanced, and make sure that I have a job when 2013 rolls around."