Jason Aldean Wants You to Either Love or Hate His Music

"I want it to hit a nerve one way or another. I don't want there to be any in-between." October 17, 2014 12:47 PM

By Annie Reuter

It’s been nearly a decade since Jason Aldean released his self-titled debut album, but instead of celebrating his past successes, the award-winning, multiplatinum-selling singer keeps his gaze ahead on his new album Old Boots, New Dirt. He shares that very sentiment in “Just Gettin’ Started,” the album’s lead track. “We’re already having the time of our lives and we’re just getting started tonight,” he sings.

“That actually was almost the title of the album,” Aldean tells Radio.com. “It’s a radio monster, I think. It’s going to be a single for sure.”

“Just Gettin’ Started” is an energetic song, and it’s become somewhat of a career motto for Aldean, who was determined to keep pushing forward on Old Boots, New Dirt, his sixth studio album, which just dropped last week.

“I think we’ve got some of the best songs we’ve had on any record,” Aldean says.

While it’s been 16 years since the Georgia singer left his hometown of Macon for Nashville, Tenn., Aldean hasn’t forgotten his roots. In fact, tracks like “I Took It with Me” remind him of where he’s from. With lyrics talking about Highway 41, which runs right through Macon, he knew he had to cut the song.

“I was so drawn to that song because it does talk about Georgia,” he tells Radio.com. “It took me back to moving to Nashville in 1998. I was born and raised in Georgia and never lived anywhere else, [and then I] moved somewhere where I didn’t know anybody.”

Aldean was only 21-years-old when he packed up his things and headed for Nashville. He says he didn’t know it at the time, but he was getting ready to get beat down for a few years. As a result, he credits his stubbornness for helping him successfully navigate the industry.

“I always tried to be smart with decisions I made, just tried to remember where I came from and how long it took me to get there,” he reflects. “Even once I got to town it wasn’t easy. I think being stubborn was the best thing for me. It made me refuse to give up and take no for an answer. No matter how many of these guys would come up and say they didn’t believe in what I was doing, I still did. I still felt that what we were doing was cool and different.”

Aldean credits his stubbornness and his Georgia upbringing to his parents, and he says it’s something that he’s glad he’s taken with him throughout his career.

“If you don’t bring a little piece of home with you in times like that it will drive you crazy. That was a big part in what helped me get through it,” he admits. “Had the music business not worked out for me I really don’t know what I’d be doing. I put so much into it. I started when I was 14, and it was baseball or music. I had a chance to go to college and play baseball, or turn that down and pursue music, and that’s what I did: I turned that down to pursue music. Music was it.”

Years later, things came full circle in 2013 when he found himself performing in baseball stadiums to sold-out crowds. Aldean says playing places like Wrigley Field and Fenway Park gave him the chance to experience the vibe of playing in a ballpark, something he never thought would happen to him.

Looking back now, though, he says music was always his first choice.

“I started playing clubs at 14, and by the time I was 21, I moved to Nashville. I didn’t think about a plan B,” he admits, before getting reflective. “That never really crossed my mind. Once you’re a musician it’s not something that you just one day go, ‘Oh, I’m not going to do that anymore.’ You can always play in a bar somewhere. You can always find an outlet to play music, whatever it is. I always knew I was going to do it some way. I didn’t necessarily know it was going to be on this level. The ultimate goal was I wanted to make a living doing it.”

It was important for him to do something he enjoyed and not have to get up every morning and dread going to work. And with that said, it is equally important to him that his music hits listeners at their core — whether they love what he does or hate it.

“I don’t want there to be any in-between,” he explains. “I think one of the worst things somebody can say is, ‘Yeah, it’s OK.’ That means it has done absolutely nothing for you. I want it to hit a nerve one way or another. If you hate it, you’ll be talking about it, and that’s all I want.”

Aldean says that the worst thing would be if his music was just background noise.

“At that point it has done absolutely nothing for you, and it has done absolutely nothing for my career, and it’s a waste of time.”

With Old Boots, New Dirt having debuted at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top 200 chart, along with receiving the most first week streams of any album this year on Spotify, Aldean proves that if he’s just getting started, it only goes up from here.

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