It was only five years ago that the fledgling record label Broken Bow Records sent out a little song called “Hicktown” to radio and immediately found an audience for its singer Jason Aldean. From that very first single Jason Aldean has been able to connect to country music audience in a way that few of his contemporaries have and while he hasn’t gotten the award show attention or accolades of the bigger label artists, Aldean’s albums have sold as well – if not better than – the albums by other major artists with his fourth album My Kinda Party selling nearly 200,000 copies in its first week earlier this month. I
In this exclusive interview, we discuss the new album, a couple of the highlight tracks, his feelings about his live show and how he came to record not only his duet with Kelly Clarkson but also how he came to record the Brantley Gilbert and Colt Ford song “Dirt Road Anthem.”
Matt Bjorke: What differentiates the My Kinda Party album from your previous three records?
Jason Aldean: I think the fact that we’ve had three albums to get what it is about us right. What I mean is what we want things to sound like. I think this might be the best group of songs we have on record too, so that’s what sets it apart for me.
Matt: I can see that as it retains parts of your past records but also includes more growth. How was it to be able to work with your band in the studio?
Jason: It’s cool. That’s something I’ve done from day one. The things that we cut are the things that got me my record deal to begin with. So I’ve always felt that if you like what we’re doing, why mess with it. You know, we play every night together so we’re on the same page on how we want the music to sound. We communicate really well in the studio together so to me if I didn’t have them in the studio it would feel really weird.
Matt: I think I can see that when you hear of some other artists who do similar things, with artists like Jamey Johnson, Tim McGraw and Jerrod Niemann working that way as well and it just enhances their comfort level in the studio.
Jason: Yeah, that’s how we feel too, that’s exactly it.
Matt: How did you come to record the Brantley Gilbert-penned title track, “My Kinda Party”?
Jason: Well, we it was pitched to us for the last record, the Wide Open record and we didn’t really have a spot for it because we had all our tempos for that album. But I really liked the song and we kept it in the back of our minds and when we got ready to record this album, we really wanted to record it for this album. It was one of the first ones we cut for the new album.
Matt: Your new single is “Don’t You Wanna Stay.” How did you come to choose Kelly Clarkson for the duet part of the song?
Jason: well we found this song and then we started talking about a duet and then I was asked who I’d want to do a duet with if we were gonna do a song like that. She was the first name I threw out and it just so happens that my manager and her manager are friends. So my manager called her manager up and got them the song and it kinda snowballed from there. Kelly liked the song and wanted to do it. It happened pretty quick and we have gotten to be pretty good friends since then but we hadn’t met before.
Matt: How cool was it to debut the song to the country via the CMA Awards program?
Jason: It was a little nerve-racking because, in my opinion, she’s one of the best singers around, probably the best female singer period. So I was hoping I just didn’t embarrass myself out there with her. I had fun. It was really different from any other performance I’ve ever done on a show like that, so it was cool and I dug it.
Matt: I’ve followed your career since you came out with “Hicktown” but I never really realized how much of a loyal, ‘rabid’ fanbase you had until you made an appearance in the Buck Commander booth next to the Roughstock booth at the 2010 CMA Music Festival where there were thousands of people waiting for just the chance to see you. So how special is it for you to have such an audience there to support your music?
Jason: I don’t even know what to say about that. They, the fans, the only reason I even have a career, so it’s always humbling. But fur us it has been one of those things where it’s really exploded over the last couple of years for us. From the early days, I’d sit at the end of the stage in a club after a show and meet with everyone there who wanted to talk with me, to give them that personal interaction, even if it’s just for five seconds. It’s just things like that. The great thing about country music fans is that once they’re a fan, they stick with you pretty much for your whole career and that’s what makes the whole business to work, is the fans. And ‘rabid’ is a good word for fans, I like that.
Matt: Yeah, I had seen the audience attention grow for you as readers come to our website to read articles about you but what amazed me the most about the people at that event was that it wasn’t just girls but it was all ages and all types of people. I think that’s another thing that may separate country from pop music, is the types of fans that come around…
Jason: Yeah and I think a lot of artists try to come out and lock in on a certain demographic, like females from 18-30 and I think when you do that you’re really limiting yourself and your growth. We’ve never gone out and done that. We play our music and we’re not targeting anyone specific. We want everybody, I don’t care if you’re 90; if you can take yourself out to the show, come on.
Matt: How did you come to decide to do the spoken verses of “Dirt Road Anthem,” the parts originally done by Colt Ford?
Jason: My producer (Michael Knox) was the one who brought that up. I knew the song because I toured with Colt and we’re really good friends so I knew his version with Brantley Gilbert but I told my producer that the way it is now, it’s not gonna work for me like that because the way it is now is Colt. So I told him I love the song but we need to slow the verses down a little bit so it wasn’t so ‘rap,’ and it wasn’t a copy of Colt’s original because that’s him.
Matt: How would you describe your live show to somebody who hasn’t seen it?
Jason: Well it’s fun. My whole thing is that people are coming to the show to escape whatever is going on in their lives. So we get up there and have fun and don’t take ourselves too serious and I think it translates to the people who are at the show. I think a lot of acts get up there and try to be all serious about it but we know we’re fortunate to get to do what we’re doing. So we don’t take it too seriously and we just have fun, we may screw up the words here or there but it’s all for fun and I think the people coming to the show get that.
Matt: Well I think I think that’s what makes live shows worth seeing, to see the imperfections or feel the ‘in the moment’ feeling of the event. If you want ‘perfect,’ just listen to the CD or something…
Jason: that’s how we feel…
Matt: given that we’re near the end of the year, what are your hopes for 2011?
Jason: Well, I think the main thing is to continue the success that we’ve had over the last couple of years and to make sure the tour is bigger and better than anything we’ve ever done and to continue to do what we’re doing. You know kind of expanding on that a bit. That’s the biggest thing we’re working on right now, to get the upcoming tour the best it can be.
Matt: What would you like to say to new fans that may be learning about Jason Aldean for the first time?
Jason: first of all. Thank you. If you’re a new fan that likes the duet or “Dirt Road Anthem” or whatever, some of those things aren’t too different from what we’ve done in the past. Because for the most part, the overall vibe of what we’ve always done over the albums is the same. So if you dig the new stuff you might dig the other stuff as well.
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