‘Catch of the Day’ – Jason Aldean [Audio]

Today's featured Catch of the Day artist began playing guitar at the ripe old age of thirteen in Homestead, FL. His father would map out chords on paper for him before going to work each day, and when dad got home from work that night, they would sit together and work on the chords the youngster had been practicing all day.

From those early summers at his dad's home, it became apparent that Jason Aldine Williams had a knack for picking up songs on a guitar with just a little practice. By the time Jason turned 14, he was a regular performer at local VFW halls near and around his and his mother's home in Macon, GA. He would later reflect that it was those shows that got him hooked on performing. He says he had to be dragged off the stage, though they were only 10 people in the crowd, "they all were applauding".

At 15, Jason joined the "house band" at Georgia nightspot Nashville South, changing his "stage" name to as a result of his name "Jason Williams" sounding too generic. He changed the spelling of his middle name, Aldine, to come up with the stage name Jason Aldean. After high school, with his father's help, Aldean and his band began performing throughout the south and mid-west. 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.

After signing with Warner-Chappell, Aldean moved to Nashville in November of 1998, at age 21. 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. 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 Aldean 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.

6 albums later, Aldean's latest release, Old Boots, New Dirt has already produced two #1 hits "Burnin' It Down" and "Just Gettin' Started". The third single off of the album is today's Catch of the Day, "Tonight Looks Good On You"; new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.