Even though I know my way around the genre, I really can’t be called a solid country music fan. No one who knows me would ever call me a snob or an elitist, but I am able to pick at an ill-conceived down home lyric wrapped in red, white, and blue and backwoods and beat it to death until someone changes the station. I can hum along to Hank Jr, Waylon, and Johnny, but I’m hard on these new guys. The new sugar pop country fronted by some sweet-faced cleavage? Not my sort of thing. I need to brush my teeth after five minutes. Why am I telling you this? Because I am a true blue Jason Aldean fan. I will admit thought that I have wondered for some time why I have such a propensity for Aldean’s music. Standing at the back of the general admission pit during his show, I may have figured it out – the man starts singing, and I’m 21 years old again.
The show started with the rumbling lead in for “Johnny Cash.” With a powerful rush of guitar, drums, and the crowd responding with a roar, Aldean hit the stage, head down, full throttle. This was what I’d been waiting for. Slowing down just a little and adding some down home, “Big Green Tractor” was next followed up with “Amarillo Sky.”
Expansive musically and clearly articulating the uncertainties of rural American life, “Amarillo Sky,” written by Big Kenny, John Rich, along with Rodney Clawson and Bart Pursley, shows Aldean’s ability to choose songs that both celebrate and reveal the stories of America. I do not romance the life of this nation’s farmers at all, but as the daughter of a Maine potato farmer, this song is as much about my father staring at the sky wishing for rain as it is for the men and women in Texas and Georgia hoping to bring in a crop one more year if the weather and the bank just cooperate. Ever wonder why farmers have such a pinched, worried look? Listen to this song. “Please let my crops and children grow because that’s all he’s ever known. He just takes the tractor another round and pulls the plow across the ground and sends up another prayer.” Yes, it really is like that.
All right, back to the show. Known to have a variety of themes in his music including the traditional country love gone wrong song, next in the lineup were the ballads “Why” and, my favorite, “The Truth.” The latter smacks of those old fashioned steel guitar songs I heard every weekend as a kid on the Grand Old Opry. Life stopped in our house when the the Opry started. “The Truth,” written by Brett James and Ashley Monroe, tells the story of heartbreak that beats you down to a nub. He sings “Tell them all I’m out in Vegas, blowing every dollar I ever made. Tell them I must be into something bad for me ‘cause I sure lost a lot of weight. …Just don’t tell them I’ve gone crazy, that I’m still strung out over you. …If you ever loved me, please, have some mercy on me.” All the women I know wish they could make a man hurt this much.
But of course, with Aldean it isn’t all about heartbreak and hard work. “Crazy Town,” a tribute to breaking into Nashville’s music scene, cranked things up again. Next was the new single, “Take a Little Ride,” from the album “Night Train” due out October 16, 2012. A fun country life tune, this song will be booming out of hot rods and pickup trucks if it isn’t already. Keeping up with the Americana theme, “Fly Over States,” a nice, completely non-offensive soft country song celebrating the Heartland’s charm, was next before sentimental favorite “Tattoos on this Town.” Standing there, enjoying myself immensely I wondered if I left any sort of impression on my hometown. I’m not sure. While I may use East Chapman as a sentimental moniker and there are still a few stories about my Jeep and the night the cops were looking for me… Oh, never mind. Come to think of it, East Chapman and I probably both left a few marks on each other.
It was about this point in the show that I looked down at my set list and saw that my much anticipated show of 2012 was nearly over, slipping away, fast. Sure, country songs are pretty short, but I later learned that Aldean’s banging out song after song and brief interaction with the crowd was due to the city’s 10:30 p.m. curfew. The show had started a few minutes late, and it was all business to get in the music. Chit chat could wait, I guess. I understand. I didn’t go to hear Aldean talk. Certainly not. I was there to hear his music and to hear him sing. And that boy can sing. “Texas was You” was followed by “Don’t you Wanna Stay,” a duet performed with a video recording of Kelly Clarkson. This effect was more comforting than other attempts I’ve seen at including duets in live shows without the other artist.
Ready to party again, the crowd erupted for “Dirt Road Anthem.” Strangely appealing to me for a country song including elements of rap, “Anthem” takes me back to all those afternoons in old pickup trucks borrowed from our dads, a six pack of beer, and heading out to visit memories off the black top. And if “Anthem” didn’t send enough dust drifting up inside my cranial cab, “My Kinda Party” ripped open as Aldean strapped on his guitar and told the crowd it was time to “kick this bitch into overdrive.” A huge hit for Aldean, the crowd launched as the band started this song. I had to laugh as Aldean told the crowd that “someone gets the shit kicked out of them at a really good party.” Once in a while it is nice to toss off the PC mantle and go back to those parties where you just knew who was going to get punched in the face. Following up was “She’s Country,” again a song including jacked up trucks. Good thing I can drive a stick and lock out the hubs. Got your boots on? We might have to walk back to civilization if this party goes the way it should. Bean boots, cowboy boots, whatever works for you is fine. Get in. I don’t care it if it is your truck, I’m driving. Because I said so.
Then the stage went black.
Coming back for a encore, Aldean and his band covered Kid Rock’s “Cowboy” in a well-received version including harmonica and of course attitude. “Hicktown” was the final song of the night, a rolling, stomping red-neck-and-we-love-it anthem. Evidently a fan favorite, the show ended with the fans happy and satisfied and just a few minutes past the city’s curfew. It’s been a long time since I had a curfew, but this time the birds weren’t up when we headed for home and Bangor turned down the volume and rolled up the streets.
Wrapping it all up for you all, gentle readers, Jason Aldean and his band are consistent in both their album work as well as bringing that same expected, dynamic energy and fun to a live show. He gives us roaring guitar, strong bass line, and rhythm that makes you want to dance. While his songs do celebrate the American experience, they tell our stories and conjure our memories without repeatedly beating the drum of backwards philosophies and lifestyles so often used to sell the country music songs of young male artists. Thank you, Jason Aldean, for realizing that some of us were raised Country but we have a brain and are just not comfortable with stupid even though we know how to tap a keg, sit on the tail gate, and some days the memories of “chilling on a dirt road” are all that gets us through.