When I think about newer country artists who’ve come on the scene in the past five years or so, I ponder which of them will still be cranking out hits ten years from now. Who will become a household name? Who is destined for the Country Music Hall of Fame? Which newcomers will collect honors and awards galore?

If there’s any justice in the music biz, Jason Aldean will be one of them.

The Georgia native, born Jason Aldine Williams on 2/28/77, lived with his mother in Macon during the school year while he was growing up. Summers were spent with his dad in Florida. It was Jason’s father who taught him to play guitar. He would practice all day while his Dad was at work, and they’d jam together in the evenings. Besides his old man, Jason’s early influences included George Strait, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alabama, Hank Williams, Jr. and various 80's rock bands.

After catching the CMA awards on TV when he was 14, Jason decided he wanted to be onstage someday too. His first public performance was at a local VFW before a captive audience of less than a dozen people. At least they all clapped.

Jason spent the remainder of his teen years performing at legions, county fairs and in small clubs. He moved to Nashville when he was 21, already having secured a publishing deal with Warner-Chappell. He was offered a record deal shortly thereafter, but his dreams were temporarily dashed when he was dumped from the label before he could even complete an album. This happened to him not once, but twice! I’m sure those record companies are kicking themselves to this day.

After a few years of struggling and frustration, Jason was ready to throw in the towel and return to Georgia. In the meantime, he’d gotten married, and his wife, Jessica, encouraged him to keep trying. Lucky for all of us, he listened. In 2004, he was ultimately signed to Broken Bow Records.

“Hicktown,” a rowdy boot-stomper, was the first single from Jason’s self-titled debut album. It reached #10 on the country singles chart in the early part of 2005. He followed it up with a ballad, “Why,” which became his first #1 hit. “Amarillo Sky,” the third hit single off that CD, helped secure Top New Male Vocalist honors at the 2006 Academy of Country Music Awards. Jason's follow-up album, "Relentless," also yielded three big radio hits: the title track, plus "Johnny Cash" and "Laughed Until We Cried." That album went gold, while its predecessor has since been certified platinum, for sales of more than one million copies. Wide Open," Jason's third CD, has yielded two hits so far, the rollicking #1 "She's Country" and the current "Big Green Tractor." (The former also became a wildly popular ringtone.)

At this year's CMA Music Fest (formerly known as Fan Fair) Jason played a show at Nashville's Wildhorse Saloon, with special guests Luke Bryan (the subject of my very first Frog Blog) and Jake Owen. The event raised money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation to fight breast cancer. Jason became involved with the cause in 2005, when a close friend lost his wife to the disease. He continues to build upon his annual fundraiser every year. He told CMT: "It’s not all about the sad side of breast cancer. There are so many people who are survivors of it, and the other thing is that affects both men and women, which is something not everybody realizes.”

This Friday night, Jason will team up with Canadian rocker Bryan Adams for an episode of "CMT Crossroads." Jason says he's looked up to Adams pretty much his entire life, and that it was hard to narrow down what songs they'd do. I can see where it'd be hard to whittle it down to only sixty minutes (not including those pesky commercials), considering all the great music these guys have produced over the years. I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing the guys trade off their respective hits.

In the meantime, check out these links: 

www.jasonaldean.com

www.myspace.com/jasonaldean

www.cmt.com/artists/az/aldean_jason/artist.jhtml

www.music.aol.com/artist/jason-aldean/2269535

Have a great Thursday, and check back tomorrow as I spotlight a certain artist who's coming to our area for a free concert this weekend!

Take It Easy,

Cricket

Listen to me & James Pond weekday mornings for “The Morning Splash” on Froggy 97! (97.5 FM). We also stream live at www.froggy97.com.  

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