Jason Aldean: LP Field Press Conference CMA Music Festival 2010

Jason Aldean LP Field Press Conference CMA Music Festival 2010

Q: Tell us what you have in store for the fans tonight. It is a sold out crowd.

JA: I have a few more hits since the last time we were here; so I have those in store. Every year we come here it is a thrill to play the stadium. It is a big thrill for us as artists to go out and play in front of that many people. Other than Chesney, no one else gets to do that. It’s fun; we just go out and try to make sure they have a good time. We have a blast up there. People come to this festival from all over the country so we want to go out and give them the best show we can.

Q: Can you talk about the experience of hanging out with your fans this week, getting to meet them and give back to them.

JA: It’s been fun. I went over to the Convention Center today and did a couple of autograph signings over there. It is a little crazy over there; but it is also one of the coolest parts of the week because you get to get up close and personal with everybody. It is just a fun week. You get to go out and see how many fans you really have. For me, that is the cool part.

Q: Did you get any whacky fan requests today?

JA: Not this year. I have had some from past years, but today was pretty good, nothing too crazy.

Q: Can you give some career advice for aspiring artists?

JA: I don’t know if they want to follow in my path but I would say first of all, Nashville is the place to be. If you want to be a country music singer, this is the place to be. If you are a singer and you move to this town, everyone wants to start changing everything about you to make you look more marketable. As an artist, you have to stay true to what it is that you want to do and know who you are and what kind of songs you want to play and stay with that.

Q: Is there anyone that you are looking forward to seeing perform at CMA Fest?

JA: I am looking forward to seeing McGraw tonight. We were actually out on tour with him a couple of years ago. I haven’t seen his show in a couple of years. I think he goes on just before or after us so I will be there. I also want to see Lady Antebellum’s show. They were on tour with us a few years ago and obviously their careers have blown way up since then.

Q: As your daughters get older and your fame climbs, are they starting to notice that Daddy is a singer?

JA: Yes, my oldest especially. She is seven now and she gets the idea. She was three when everything took off so she is starting to get a little more of a grip on it. My youngest is about to turn three and I don’t think she gets the idea yet. She calls me “Daddy Aldean” when I have my hat on and any other time I am just “Daddy”. I don’t think she has really put it together yet.

Q: Can you talk about these festivals that bring together you and some of your peers that you don’t see often.

JA: It is fun. We all tour with each other at certain points and then after the tour is over, we go off in different directions. It is not until an awards show or festival that we are all together again and hang out. An example is Luke Bryant was out on tour with us this spring. We hung out pretty much every day. Then we went out with Brooks and Dunn and he went out with Miranda Lambert, I think, so we have not had any time to hang out together. So last night after the show we got a chance to go out and have dinner and talk and catch up. The festivals are the same way. Those are shows we look forward to.

Q: Have you started on the next album?

JA: We are about half finished with the next album. We have probably cut 10 or 11 songs so far. We have not finished all 11 of those. The current single out is “Crazy Town” and then our next single after that will be from the new album. I am not sure which one it will be yet but we have it narrowed down to two I think. We will have some new music out there and the way we are looking it will be somewhere around November for the new album. We are in the studio and working on it every time we have a day off and hopefully have it out before the end of the year.

Q: Your single is “Crazy Town”. What is the craziest town you have every played?

JA: With all the shows we have done in the last five years, I need to think about this. My home town is pretty crazy; just because. We try to go back there once a year and play a show. It is more than just the show; we usually spend the whole day running around doing all kinds of things. Last time we were there, we went to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and did some things there. It is always pretty chaotic when we go to my home town. I will take the easy answer there and say Macon, Georgia.

Q: Last year, a promoter told me you were the hot act to watch on tour. Can you talk about your tour? I know you have been out with Brooks and Dunn, what do you have coming up?

JA: We have one more week left with Brooks and Dunn and then we will go out on our own. We are headlining some of the fairs and festivals throughout the rest of the summer. Our new tour will kick off sometime in September. We will go back out and do the headlining tour, our tour and that will probably go into next Spring and Summer and coincide with the release of the album and other things.

Q: Does the tour have a name?

JA: Not yet. Neither does the album but we are working on that.

For additional photos of CMA Music Festival LP Field Backstage visit http://MomentsByMoser.zenfolio.com/lpbackstage

Transcribed by Pam Stadel for Digital Rodeo