Jason Aldean Proud to be a "Hat Act"

Jason Aldean photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records

March 15, 2007 — Jason Aldean first made his way to Nashville and signed with Capitol Records in 2000, but it didn't take long before he was asked to become someone else, the Edmonton Sun reports.

"When they actually offered me the deal in 2000, the president of Capitol was there," Jason said. "But when I signed it, they brought in another guy to run the label. The first guy was into what I was doing and the new guy really wasn't. I just became a casualty of the changeover, caught in the crossfire."

A new deal with Broken Bow Records fixed things, however. "When I was at Capitol, record labels weren't really signing 'hat acts,'" he said. "But I always wore a hat in the clubs, since I first started playing. Getting dropped was a good thing, because I went back and did what first got me to Nashville, doing the music I wanted and looking the way I wanted to look."

When Jason went back to doing things his way, success soon followed. He scored three Top 10 hits from his 2005 self-titled debut album, including "Why," which went to No. 1. His song "Amarillo Sky" was just nominated for two Academy of Country Music awards.

The success also helped Jason reaffirm why he fell in love with country music in the first place. "That's what's great about country music in that it is based on life experiences," he said. "I think anytime you go through any hardship it gives you ideas for songs and if you've lived it you can sing about it a little better, with conviction."