To celebrate the pre-add of GEORGIA – part two of his double album – Jason Aldean stops by The Ty Bentli Show for an interview to shoot the breeze with Ty and play some new tracks. In this candid conversation, Aldean reveals the jukebox inspiration behind his brand new single, “Whiskey Me Away,” discusses his philosophy behind adding live cuts to the new project, and gives his opinion on Ty’s burning question “how do you define country music?” Listen to the episode in-full anytime on-demand at apple.co/_TyBentli on Apple Music Country.
Jason Aldean On His Definition of Country Music
“Go back and listen to my records, I mean, I haven’t had a fiddle on a song that I can remember. I don’t remember having fiddle on an album, actually, maybe since my second or third album… Used to, it was defined if you had fiddle and steel, you know, I haven’t used fiddle in forever… I think the lines are definitely a little blurred, but I mean, I don’t think that’s anything new. I think they’ve kind of been blurred for a while and, and for some reason it always kind of swings back around to a little bit more of the traditional style.”
Jason Aldean On Being Drawn To Heartache Songs
“I typically lean more toward the heartache type songs than I do the real sappy love song kind of things. And I think that’s because, you know, growing up and as kind of a kid of the eighties, listening to country music, it was all heartache stuff. You know what I mean? And so those are the songs. I mean, I listen to Keith Whitley. It’s like, you know, “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” and I mean, those are heartache songs, man. And those were the things that I loved. And so I feel like I’m drawn to those songs more than I am to the “I love you so much. I could die” or whatever, you know what I mean? Like I just, for whatever reason, those seem a little sappy and just not my thing, but every once in a while we’ll drop one, you know, “You Make It Easy,” or “Got What I Got,” something like that. But typically it’s “Any Old Barstool” and stuff like that, that I tend to lean toward.
Jason Aldean On The Heartbreak Songs That Speak To Him
“George Strait. If I go back and listen to George Strait, you know, I want to “Fool Hearted Memory. I don’t want to hear “Cross My Heart,” even today. You know what I mean? And George Strait’s one of my favorite singers ever, but I want to go back to “Full Hearted Memory.” It’s like that’s country heartache, man. Those are the ones I love for some reason. I guess I’m just the negative person, I guess!”
Jason Aldean Reveals His All Time Favorite Jukebox Hits
“I’m picking… it depends on where I’m at. You know, I used to go in the Waffle House when I get off done playing a club at like 2:00 in the morning. I’d go by Waffle House in Georgia on my way home. And I’d always go to the jukebox and play a lot of George Strait, a lot of Alabama, you know, “Old Flame,” “Why Lady, Why?” Like those kinds of things. Maybe I’m a sucker for heartache.”
