‘Catch of the Day’ – Jason Aldean – “A Little More Summertime” [VIDEO]

Today we focus on a singer and songwriter born in Macon, GA and raised in Macon and Homestead, FL. An artist whose father would map out guitar chords to learn in the morning before leaving for work, and who would practice them all day in order to play them with his dad when he got home in the evening.

Jason Aldine Williams would spend summers with his father in Florida as he was growing up, where it was discovered he quickly learned not only chords, but entire songs. From age 14 he focused on country music, both of his parents supporting his musical ambitions. His father taught him music, while his mother, who still lived in Macon, helped him to find places to showcase his talent. He had his first professional gig, to an audience of 10 at a local VFW hall, at 14, and by 15 he joined the house band at Nashville South, a local night club.

At that point, Jason dropped his last name to avoid confusion with the NBA's Jason Williams and changed the spelling of his middle name and adopted the stage name Jason Aldean. From this point he played local gigs and writing songs with members of his band. After high school, his father began shopping the band, landing them their first traveling gig at Truman State University in Kirksville, MO. In 1998, Aldean played a showcase in Atlanta.

At the showcase, Aldean featured many of his own songs, and impressed Michael Knox of Warner-Chappell publishing, who offered him a publishing contract. At 21 years old, Aldean moved to Nashville in November of the same year. He was offered a recording contract in 1999, but was dropped before completing a session. A second record contract in 2000 was also dropped when Aldean missed several scheduled sessions. Having burned a few bridges, several showcases for Aldean failed to land him a contract, including the final one, where no label representatives showed up.

Aldean gave himself 6 months at this time to land a recording contract or go home. 5 weeks later, Broken Bow Records offered him a contract. Aldean's self-titled debut album was released in 2005. The lead single, "Hicktown" peaked at #10 and Aldean was on his way. The album also featured the top-10 hits "Why" and "Amarillo Sky" (written by "Big" Kenny Alpin and John Rich). "Amarillo Sky" garnered 2006 ACM nominations for Song and Video of the Year, as well as a Best New Artist nomination for Aldean.

The artist dropped by two labels and who has been through 3 agents since landing in Nashville has come a long way since those early days. 6 platinum albums, 24 top-10 hits and 16 #1 singles later, Aldean has earned ACM and CMA Awards for Musical/Vocal Event of the Year (2011 CMA/2012 ACM - "Don't You Wanna Stay" with Kelly Clarkson, 2013 ACM - "The Only Way I Know" with Luke Bryan and Eric Church), Album of the Year (2011 CMA - My Kinda Party), SIngle of the Year (2012 ACM - "Don't You Wanna Stay" with Kelly Clarkson), Male Vocalist of the Year (2013, 2014, 2015 ACM) and Entertainer of the Year (ACM - 2016).

Aldean's 7th studio album, They Don't Know, is due in September, and the lead single is in our spotlight today. Jason Aldean and "A Little More Summertime" is today's Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.