Jason Aldean photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records.

Jason Aldean is one of the most prominent voices in modern country music, but good luck trying to put the guy in a stylistic box.

One of his biggest hits is named after country icon Johnny Cash, and you can’t get much more country than the farm-centered lyrics in “Amarillo Sky” or “Big Green Tractor.” On the other hand, the guitar chords on “She’s Country” sound more like AC/DC than Merle Haggard; his current single, “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” teams Jason with pop singer Kelly Clarkson; and he even has a rap section on “Dirt Road Anthem,” one of the key tracks on his current album My Kinda Party.

Jason grew up on the outskirts of Macon, Ga., and his background brought all of those different musical threads together.

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Jason Aldean photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records.

Jason Aldean’s Wide Open album brought him to a new level as two of the singles — “She’s Country” and “Big Green Tractor” — became monster records within country music.

Now he’s looking to pack even more forward-moving energy into his career with the next album, My Kinda Party. Named after his current Top 25 single, it may not be much of a departure for Jason in the way he approached it. But it still represents a change in his career. Since he doesn’t write many of his own songs, he relies on the material that Nashville’s songwriters send his way. And after his last album sold so well, writers made sure that he got a crack at their best material. And early listens to a few of the tracks suggest that he may well have upped the ante creatively.

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Trace Adkins (l) and Blake Shelton rehearse on Friday, April 16, 2010 for the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. Photo courtesy of the Academy of Country Music.

From the minute Tim McGraw and Faith Hill announced plans for their multi-artist flood-relief concert Nashville Rising, the event looked like the kind of evening ripe for surprises. And it was.

Even after Brooks & Dunn were forced to cancel because of Ronnie Dunn’s throat problems, a few unannounced stars made their way Tuesday to Music City’s Bridgestone Arena, one of numerous downtown facilities that took in water during the early-May flood. Trace Adkins popped onstage to join Blake Shelton on “Hillbilly Bone,” according to USA Today. And Sandra Bullock — who worked with Tim on the movie The Blind Side — took the spotlight and comically picked out the opening chords from Deep Purple’s classic-rock standard “Smoke On The Water.” Then she got serious.

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Bridgette Tatum photo courtesy of Route Forty-Nine Records.

The Country Radio Seminar is a tough nut for a new artist to crack. Between the official performances, the unofficial side events and general hanging about by the genre’s stars, an attendee can catch the likes of Alan Jackson, John Rich, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, Craig Morgan or Darius Rucker. How does an artist who hasn’t even released an album get some attention?

In the case of Bridgette Tatum, working her feisty single “(I Like My) Cowboys Dirty,” you rename the hotel’s Bridge Bar as the Bridgette Bar. You slap your video on the club’s screens, throw over-sized banners along the glass walls, set out Bridgette Tatum placards on all the tables and put the waitresses in “(I Like My) Cowboys Dirty” T-shirts — or, better put, dirty T-shirts. Not enough? It helps that your record company is owned in part by NASCAR driver Ryan Newman — bring him in to race in a video game with guests and promise attendees you have a special “Dirty” drink just for them.

Bridgette’s already started making a name for herself as a co-writer of the massive Jason Aldean power-chord special “She’s Country,” but even with those credentials, CRS is a tough sell. She wasn’t even the only artist in the Bridgette Bar on Wednesday night. You could spot former Shenandoah vocalist Marty Raybon, newcomer Katie Armiger and even much-publicized Mindy McCready. And Kix Brooks might well have been headed for the Bridgette Bar when he rolled into the lobby of the Renaissance Nashville Hotel around 11 p.m.

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David Lee Murphy, writer of Jason Aldean's "Big Green Tractor," celebrates with Jason at the platinum party for his Wide Open CD. Photo by Chris Hollo, courtesy of The GreenRoom.

One of the biggest hits of 2009 was Jason Aldean’s “Big Green Tractor,” which went to No. 1 for four weeks in the fall and — combined with the power-packed previous single, “She’s Country” — launched his concert sales into a whole new stratosphere.

The song, written by 1990s hitmaker David Lee Murphy and Jim Collins, used the tractor as a literary vehicle for the escapism that a relationship can provide. But Jason’s not completely sure that the tractor itself wasn’t the attraction in the song.

“I told the writers if they have any more tractor songs, be sure to send them to me,” Jason told The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.

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Jason Aldean photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records.

Jason Aldean recently saw his hit “She’s Country” go platinum, and he’ll talk about his unique blend of country and hard-rockin’ music with co-host Nan Kelley on this weekend’s edition of GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown.

“She’s Country” was the first hit off his current Wide Open album, which has notched two more huge singles: “Big Green Tractor” and “The Truth.” He’s taking a break from touring through the end of December, but he’ll be back out on the trail in 2010. His calendar already includes a major stop on the inaugural HullabaLOU Music Festival at Churchill Downs, the same Louisville venue that hosts the Kentucky Derby. Also on the bill with Jason in July are the Zac Brown Band, Loretta Lynn, Kenny Chesney, Bon Jovi, Dwight Yoakam, the Dave Matthews Band, the Black Crowes and Gloriana.

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Jason Aldean photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records.

When Jason Aldean debuted “She’s Country” during last year’s edition of the Country Music Association Awards, he had no idea how big an impact the song would have on his career.

The exposure on a national television was great, but Continue Reading

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