Jason Aldine Williams
(born February 28, 1977 in Macon, Georgia) is an American country music singer, known professionally as Jason Aldean
. He has recorded three albums on the independent Broken Bow Records label: Jason Aldean
, Relentless
, and Wide Open
, in 2005, 2007, and 2009 respectively. These albums have accounted for eight singles on the Billboard
country singles charts, including the Number One hits "Why", "She's Country", and "Big Green Tractor". His first album is certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, while the other two are each certified gold.
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JASON ALDEAN TICKETS
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Early life
Aldean's parents, Barry and Debbie, divorced when he was three. He was raised by his mother, mainly in
Macon, Georgia. During the summer he would spend time with his father in
Homestead, Florida.
Before going to work during the day, his dad would map out guitar chords on notebook paper to show Jason where to place his fingers to play the chords. Jason sat and practiced all day while his dad was at work. When his dad got home, he got out his own guitar and they played together. Soon, after hearing a song only a few times, he could play it. His early favorites included
George Strait's "
The Cowboy Rides Away",
Hank Williams Jr.'s "The Blues Man", and
Alabama's "
My Home's in Alabama".
Both parents encouraged young Jason as he progressed musically. From age 14, after watching the country-music awards on TV, he wanted to perform on stage. With his mother's help, he performed at the local
VFW hall in Macon, Georgia. He sang
John Anderson's song "
Seminole Wind" and
Tracy Lawrence's "
Sticks and Stones". He would later say that the entire audience — all ten — applauded, and that he almost had to be dragged off the stage because he was hooked on performing. He began performing at area talent contests and local fairs. At 15, he joined the "house band" at the Macon, Georgia nightspot Nashville South.
Musical career
After high school, with his father's help, Aldean and his band performed in college towns in
Florida,
Alabama, and
Georgia, and then further up the
southeastern seaboard. With one of the band's members, Justin Weaver, Aldean began writing songs. In 1998 he performed his original songs at a showcase staged by
Atlanta nightclub The Buckboard. He was approached by Michael Knox, then of the
Warner-Chappell song-publishing company.
[1] After signing with Warner-Chappell, Aldean moved to
Music City on
November 1, 1998 at age 21. One of Aldean's greatest influences is the Gin Blossoms.
A month after moving to Music City, Aldean was offered a recording contract but was subsequently dropped. He signed with another label but again was dropped in 2000 for postponing his recording sessions repeatedly. Three years went by. He married Jessica in the meantime. Jessica took a job at a bank in Nashville, and she urged Jason to press on. So did Michael Knox, who has remained by his side during his ordeal. Various showcases failed to bring him a contract. The last straw was an attempt at the Wildhorse Saloon where the promised label talent scouts never even showed up. Finally, Lawrence Mathis spotted Jason at one of the showcases at The Wildhorse Saloon in
Nashville. Mathis signed as Aldean's first manager. Still frustrated and discouraged with his struggling career, Aldean gave himself six months before planning to leave Nashville and return home to Georgia. Then five weeks later, he was offered a deal from
Broken Bow Records in Nashville. Shortly after the release of his first album, Jason picked up his new (and current agent), Bimal Patel.
Jason Aldean
(2005-2006)
Aldean's first single, "
Hicktown", was released in early 2005.
It served as the lead-off to his album
Jason Aldean
, and reached a peak of #10 on the
Billboard
Hot Country Songs charts. The album also produced his first Number One hit in "
Why", as well as the #4-peaking "
Amarillo Sky", which had previously been a non-charting single in 2002 for
McBride & the Ride. Jason Aldean earned the title of "Top New Male Vocalist" at the 2006 Academy of Country Music Awards.
Jason Aldean
has sold over one million copies in the United States, and was certified platinum by the
RIAA in 2007.
Relentless
(2007-2008)
Aldean spent most of January 2007 in the studio with producer Michael Knox to finish his second album,
Relentless
.
This album was released on May 29, 2007, and at
Wal-Mart, it was released with a Limited Edition CMT Pick DVD that includes performances from Jason Aldean. The album's lead-off single, "
Johnny Cash", was originally recorded by
Tracy Byrd and peaked at #6 when Aldean released it. Its followup, "
Laughed Until We Cried", has become his fifth consecutive Top Ten hit.
Relentless
has also been certified platinum by the
RIAA, and its
title track was released as its third single. The song has also been Aldean's lowest charting single in both the U.S. and Canada, failing to reach Top Ten on the country charts.
Wide Open
(2008-Present)
Aldean released a seventh single titled "
She's Country" to radio on December 1, 2008.
[2] It is the first single from his third album
Wide Open
which was released on April 7, 2009. The single debuted at #51 on the
Hot Country Songs chart in late-November 2008. His seventh consecutive Top 40 hit on the country charts, it is also his first Top 40 hit on the
Billboard Hot 100, and has become his second number-one hit. The next single from this album is "
Big Green Tractor"; which debuted at #48 on the country charts for the chart week of May 22, 2009. It then entered the Top 40 of the charts in its second chart week and became his third Number One on the chart week of September 5, 2009.
Wide Open
debuted at #2 on the Top Country Albums chart.
Jason Aldean performed with
Bryan Adams on an episode of CMT Crossroads in the beginning of May, and the episode premiered on June 26, 2009.
[3]
A live DVD titled
Wide Open Live & More
will be released on August 25, 2009.
Discography
Studio albums
All albums released on
Broken Bow Records.
| Year
| Album details
| Peak chart positions
| Certifications [4]
(sales threshold)
|
| US Country
| US
| US
Indie
| CAN Country
| CAN
|
| 2005
| Jason Aldean
- Released: July 26, 2005
- Format: CD, digital download
| 6
| 37
| 1
|
| —
|
|
| 2007
| Relentless
- Released: May 29, 2007
- Format: CD, digital download
| 1
| 4
| 1
|
| —
|
|
| 2009
| Wide Open
- Released: April 7, 2009
- Format: CD, digital download
| 2
| 4
| 1
| 15
| 121
|
|
"—" denotes the album failed to chart or not released
* denotes unknown peak positions
|
Video albums
| Year
| Album details
| Certifications
(sales threshold)
|
| 2009
| Wide Open Live & More
- Released: August 25, 2009 [5]
- Format: DVD
|
|
Singles
| Year
| Single
| Peak chart positions
| RIAA [6]
| Album
|
| US Country
| US
| US
Pop
| CAN Country
| CAN
|
| 2005
| "Hicktown"
| 10
| 68
| —
| 27
| —
| Gold
| Jason Aldean
|
| "Why"
| 1
| 43
| 89
| 4
| —
| Gold
|
| 2006
| "Amarillo Sky"
| 4
| 59
| 90
| 29
| —
| Gold
|
| 2007
| "Johnny Cash"
| 6
| 68
| 90
| 25
| —
| —
| Relentless
|
| "Laughed Until We Cried"
| 6
| 61
| —
| 6
| 88
| —
|
| 2008
| "Relentless"
| 15
| 103
| —
| 47
| —
| —
|
| "She's Country"
| 1
| 29
| —
| 14
| 90
| Gold
| Wide Open
|
| 2009
| "Big Green Tractor"[A
| 1
| 20
| —
| 4
| 61
|
|
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not certified
|
Music videos
| Year
| Video
| Director [7]
|
| 2005
| "Hicktown"
| Wes Edwards
|
| "Why"
|
| 2006
| "Amarillo Sky"
|
| 2007
| "Johnny Cash"
|
| "Laughed Until We Cried"
| Kristin Barlowe
|
| 2008
| "Relentless"
| Ryan Smith
|
| "She's Country" (Live at the CMA Awards)
| Paul Miller
|
| 2009
| "She's Country"
| Wes Edwards
|
| "Big Green Tractor"
| Ivan Dudynsky
|
References
- Jason Aldean biography
- Music Row singles calendar
- http://www.musicrow.com/category/artist/
- Jason Aldean's certified albums
- Jason Aldean live DVD coming in August
- Jason Aldean's certified singles
- Jason Aldean's music videos at CMT.com