(audience applauds)
- How are you?
(audience cheers)
Right?
- I am so sick today
and that makes me feel so happy (laughs).
- Well, you know.
I love Vinex T-Shirts and I-- - You support it all the time?
- Yes, well this is a new one
but it's going in the A Rotation.
- Oh my God, I love it.
I love your whole outfit man you look good.
- Thank you, thank you. - All right.
With the jeans and everything.
How you been?
- Good, busy. - Good, busy?
Busy, busy, busy.
Artist of the Decade.
- Yeah, it's been, that's pretty wild, you know, when they--
- That was incredible.
- The Academy of Country Music told me
that we were gonna be the Artist of the Decade,
and I kinda just felt like.
(audience applauds) Thank you!
- It's amazing!
- But it was kinda weird you know.
I felt like I hadn't been around long enough
to get something like that.
And then I kinda turned around - You've been around for--
- Well, you don't have say how long I've been around,
but it was like, I looked and it was like 14 years,
so I was like, well I guess I have been around
for over a decade. - [Kelly] Yeah, yeah.
- But it was one of the biggest honors of my career so far.
- And you've had like the biggest songs,
you have the best catalog and I was telling them,
"You Make It Easy",
I know I wrote that in the letter to you backstage,
I love that song. - Wow, thank you, it was--
- Like I want my husband to slow dance
in the rain with me to that song.
It is a sexy song y'all.
(audience applauds) It is a sexy song.
So, here's my question though.
We asked earlier though, and I know,
you know, Christmas coming up.
What's the worst gift you've ever received?
- The worst gift I think was, a couple years ago,
I got a motion censored light that hangs
on your toilet, right?
(audience laughs)
So when you stumble into the bathroom at night it's dark,
this thing comes on and it lights up the toilet
so you don't miss.
- Oh, well that's thoughtful. - Yeah.
We moved and somehow it came up missing, it was--
(laughs) - That's amazing!
- It was probably the oddest gift I ever got.
- That is amazing! - Yeah.
- I kinda wanna meet that person.
You were on stage actually,
and this is more of a serious thing.
But actually, I had friends at the Vegas shooting,
they were Brian, actually Brandon's best friend,
my husbands best friend.
He and his wife were there
at the Vegas shooting when that happened,
when you were doing your show and everything.
And I just, I know you just did a show,
in Vegas recently, like to kind of, I don't know,
I guess it was, what was the point of you doing that?
Because I--
Right when that happened and our friends were literally
texting us during the shooting.
And we were like, what?
It terrified me to ever go on stage
and I've been on stage forever.
But it just scares you 'cause you're so vulnerable.
- Yeah, I mean it's obviously something
that I wouldn't wish on anybody.
And I think for us, going back to Vegas was something
that I think we wanted to do it the right way.
We didn't wanna go in and try and do it too soon.
We felt like there was gonna be a lot of people
at our show that probably haven't been to one of our shows,
maybe haven't been to a concert at all, since that show.
And if they were gonna come back out,
and you know, that was the healing process for them.
You know, we wanted to make it a safer environment,
something that made them feel safer.
- Yeah.
- So we did Park MGM and so you know,
little 5,000 seat arena that, you know,
the other one was outside, 30, 40,000 people,
whatever it was.
And so this was a little smaller, a little more intimate,
where people could come hopefully feel a little more at ease
and hopefully help some of them.
I mean, we had to kinda get on stage the next week,
you know, and start trying to get through all of it.
- How did you do that right off the bat?
Did you talk to anyone?
'Cause I'm telling you what, I--
- You know the best thing that happened--
- Especially having kids. - Yeah.
- You know what I'm saying, like it's not just you
going out there, you have a family.
- Yeah, I mean it was rough.
I think the best thing that could've happened was the fact,
not what could have happened, but the best thing for me,
was the fact that my wife was there and went through it.
My band was there and went through it.
My crew, everybody.
And so we kinda leaned on each other, you know,
for that stuff and talked through it.
You know nobody kinda kept it bottled up.
I mean if you had a breakdown,
you kinda had it in front of everybody
and everybody knew what was going on.
You know, my wife, you know we could talk
and she understood, you know,
what was going on because she was there.
- Yeah. - And so it was just,
I think to me, that probably helped more than anything.
But you know, we're on the other side of it now
and you know, we're part of the Route 91 family now.
So it's a, it's cool group.
- It is, it is, it's a good thing.
(audience applauds)
So you're a busy dad, with two little kids as well.
This photo kinda sums it up, here we go.
- Aww! - Yeah (laughs).
- [Kelly] Now is that?
What's on you there Jason?
- [Jason] That's puke.
(audience laughs)
Yeah, that kinda stuff happens whenever I take them
to do anything like, by myself.
- Yes, of course. - You know what I mean?
- Yeah, that's the time they'll have diarrhea.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- So she threw up on me that day
and then the next time I took her,
we were like five miles from the house
and I started smelling something.
- Hmm!
- So I was like, all right,
maybe it's not that bad you know,
I get home and it's coming out of the diaper.
- Yup. - No!
- Into the car seat, which anybody with kids knows
there's like a lot of little nooks and crannies
in a car seat.
- Yes, where Cheerio's hide, yeah!
- So you know, I'm holding her out like this,
like trying to get her in the house.
And then take this car seat and use the water hose,
spray it off, it's you know.
- You need a power washer for that (laughs).
- I know, I know!
- So is Memphis a big talker?
- He's starting to be a big talker.
He's saying everything he hears right now,
it's his, yeah there he is.
- [Kelly] That's my three year old, Remy.
He repeats everything, so be careful.
- I know trust me, I say stuff and then he--
- Oh my gosh! - He repeats it.
- Do you just wanna eat him?
(audience laughs)
He is so cute!
- That's actually been a little while back.
He's got like real, kinda longer hair now.
- [Kelly] Oh my gosh!
- [Jason] Yeah, he's awesome.
- Big ole blue eyes, get it.
So how do they react to your music?
- He loves it!
He came out, he's seen a couple shows.
He's usually in bed by the time I play, so.
But I've had a couple things
where he's been able to come out
and watch and you know, he just,
he's a little confused, he's like, he's got a,
so when he was born, I had a bunch of posters,
pictures of people that I've worked with.
I don't have you though, but I should do that.
(audience laughs)
- Whatever, you're wearing my shirt, it's even.
- So it's like Luke Bryan and George Strait and Miranda
and some of those people.
And so, and I had them sign big pictures to him
and one of 'em is from me and I signed it to him.
- That's adorable!
- And so he looks at the picture and he's like, dada,
and then he looks and me and he's like dada too.
Like he knows I'm the same person,
but he still hasn't quite put it together so,
but they seem, I mean he seems to be, you know,
into the music and you know,
you turn it on and he knows it's me singing so.
- It's funny when it starts to click.
'Cause then he'll turn around and my kid,
will like, especially River, she's five now.
She'll turn around and she'll hear people cheering
or whatever and she turns, she goes, "That's my mom."
(audience laughs)
I'm like, "Slow your roll."
Like she's like trying to hit on the guys behind her.
- At least she's proud of it.
- I know!
- She could be saying, I don't know who that is.
- I don't, yeah, that'll come when she's 16.
But you also have two older daughters,
that I've met and love, are they musical at all?
- My oldest daughter, Keeley is, Keeley and Kendyl.
My oldest one, Keeley, has started playing guitar
and started wanting to play.
So I was like, all right well I can teach you.
You know, you wanna play.
I mean I play rhythm guitar and I'm like,
you want to learn to play what I play?
And she's like, "No not really."
(laughs)
I said, "Well, what do you wanna know?"
"How do you wanna play?"
And she's goes, "I wanna play like Slash
from Guns N' Roses." (audience laughs)
- Oh my God, she aims for the moon.
- Yeah and she's actually doing great man.
She picked it up a lot quicker than I thought
and she's got another year of high school
and then you know, it's time for college,
so she wants to go do something with music.
So we'll see,
we'll see how it goes. - Does that excite you?
Or scare you? - Both.
Yeah, me too. - You know,
it's exciting that, you know,
that she kinda has the bug and loves music.
- Yeah, and that kindred spirit,
but at the same time you've like, oh, beware, yeah.
- Yeah, it's just, you know it's a tough business.
- Yes!
- You know and you gotta have a pretty thick skin.
- [Kelly] Yes!
- But you know, I love the fact that she's picked it up
and, you know, just the fact that she can play an instrument
to me is cool, so.
- Yeah, oh my gosh.
(audience applauds)
Well you recently posted a photo of your papa?
- Yeah.
- And I didn't know this story.
But I didn't know that your real last name wasn't Aldean.
- [Jason] No, so my last name is Williams.
- Okay, very different.
- But yeah so when I was in high school
and started playing music,
there was a couple basketball players named Jason Williams.
And so, and there was a piano guy in Nashville,
named Jason D Williams,
so it was just so common you know.
And so I started using my middle name which was Aldean.
And my grandfather, who, I was named after my grandfather.
And so I had a cousin in town the other day
and we started talking about him.
And my uncle, years ago had started taking
my grandfather out and he would just record,
you know, had a little recorder
and he would record conversations and he put 'em on a CD.
So I've been driving around in my truck,
listening to those CD's and my cousin was in town
and we were talking about him.
And so that night, I just kinda, had the feels as you say,
and-- - Exactly, did you cry?
- No, I didn't. - Judging you now.
(audience laughs) - I didn't.
But it's just cool I was named after him,
and it was a name growing up that I was like,
man I was, whenever somebody called me Jason Aldean,
it was usually 'cause I was in trouble.
- Yes. (audience laughs)
- So little did I know that that would be the name
that everybody would know me as, you know, from now on.
And he didn't live long enough to kinda see that.
You know, so, I was just kinda thinking about him
a lot that night but then I ended up naming my only son
after him too Memphis Aldean, so yeah.
- It's such a cool name. - Thank you.
- Such a strong rock 'n roll name.
This is awesome and I love that it's smoke, the 9.
- [Jason] Yeah!
- So 9, what's the significance?
- So 9 for me, this was an album--
- I know it's you're 9th album but--
- Yeah 9th album, but for me this was an album
that years ago I just, kinda it was a pipe dream,
but I always said if I ever made nine records,
I was gonna call it 9 or number 9,
because I played a lot of baseball growing up.
I actually thought that was gonna be my career path
for a long time and nine was my number
that I wore playing baseball all those years and so--
- Oh look at itty bitty Jason!
Look at you! - Oh, there you go.
There you go, that was high school and no facial hair.
Right there. (audience laughs)
- But tell us about the album and this is cool art too.
So what is different?
'Cause I know I've made like eight by now,
but you start to go,
what do I do that's different on this album,
so what do you think is different?
- Well I think that's the thing, is you know,
after making so many records,
you have to, you know, kinda go in and get creative
and a lot of times you feel like, man,
I've already done this and I've already done that.
And you know, for me, luckily, I mean,
my influencers are all over the place.
I mean I'm from Macon, Georgia,
which is the home of the Allman Brothers and Otis Redding
and Little Richard and, but you know,
songs for me like Dirt Road Anthem and those kind of things.
I mean those came from me liking different genres of music
and it's kinda the same on this record.
I mean I think for me,
I wanna go in and make albums
where there's gonna be some traditional country songs,
because I love that stuff.
There's gonna be some, you know, more R&B type stuff
and rock 'n roll is a huge thing for me.
- Anything, you know else, like "You Make It Easy".
- There is one! - Okay!
- There's a song on there called "I Got What I Got".
- Okay I'm in.
- Yeah, so I think that'll be your jam.
- Spotify knows that I stalk you (laughs).
(audience laughs)
They all are watching us, beware (laughs).