Hmmm - that is interesting. Many people speculating that it was a less than amicable split. Of course, Joe was originally with Universal South when they merged with ShowDog. He had much success with Universal, but since going with the merge he has only had one album, with one singled released. So it does seem understandable that he is excited to embark on new adventures - things obviously weren't working there.
He does want to make a new record soon.
(photo from joenichols.com)