Jason Aldean Handles the Unknown

Jason Aldean photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records.

June 5, 2009 — Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it. There’s some truth in that old adage, though it’s also true that things can turn on a dime and completely break a cycle.

Jason Aldean knows about that. For years, he slagged away in Nashville looking for a break. He finally caught one, but he’d gotten so despondent about the industry that it took him by surprise when it actually worked.

"You never know what the next day is going to bring," he told The Jackson Clarion-Ledger. "I specifically remember playing the showcase that got me my record deal, and the night before that I was just thinking, ‘Well, I've got another showcase, nothing will probably happen.’"

Little did Jason know how wrong he was. The showcase led to a deal which now has him on his third album. And he just finished a ride to No. 1 with "She’s Country," a song that’s as hard-rockin’ and edgy as anything that’s appeared in country’s Top 10. While it’s been embraced, the single left music critics scratching their heads as they tried to define it. It blends country and rock, but it’s not the kind of country-rock one would associate with the Eagles or the Flying Burrito Brothers. For his part, Jason doesn’t care what anyone calls it.

"It's not really up to me to put a label on it," he said. "I think it's whatever everybody else feels like it is, that's what they'll call it. To me it's country music, it's just my version of it. Everybody kind of wants to label it. That's fine."

Jason is lined up next Friday to play Nashville’s LP Field during the CMA Music Festival. Also on the bill during that stadium show will be Rodney Atkins, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Jake Owen, the Zac Brown Band and Little Big Town.