Country star Jason Aldean just dropped his 11th studio album, Highway Desperado, on November 3, and while behind the scenes at this year's CMA Awards, he gave us some insight into the creative process behind his new offering.
LISTEN NOW: Jason Aldean at the 2023 CMA Awards
"We kind of had a different mindset going in writing for this album," Aldean tells Audacy's Sabrina From Queens while backstage at the 2023 CMA Awards, broadcasting live from Nashville on Wednesday, November 8.
"A lot of times you just try to find songs or write songs, if you don't cut 'em hopefully somebody else will cut 'em, but we went in kind of different," Jason explained. "We started writing songs where if we got verse/chorus and we knew it was something we were going to cut, trash it -- start over. Then specifically, we wrote every song with the intention of it being on the record -- and if it wasn't good enough, we just stopped and moved on to the next song."
"It was a different way of cutting an album and writing for it, but at the end of the day I'm really proud of the way it turned out," Aldean admits. "I think it's one of the coolest records we've done."
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Luckily Jason has his family always at the close and ready for him to test any new ideas. "Obviously, my wife [Brittany] -- I kind of bounce a lot of stuff off of her just because I'm constantly listening to songs," he says. "I also know what songs she's gonna like. She's gonna like more of the ballad stuff that's a little bit more on the Pop side. She's not a fan of Rock, so she's not gonna like the Rock side of stuff that I do."
"I like bouncing songs off of people," says Jason, but in the end it's his decision to make when he hits the studio. "Sometimes it's good to get another opinion of friends or whoever. It doesn't sway my decision of whether I cut it or not, but I definitely want to get their take on it."
Listen to Sabrina's full chat with Jason Aldean above, and pick up his new album, Highway Desperado, available now.
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Don't miss the 57th Annual CMA Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning, airing Wednesday, November 8 at 8PM ET /7PM CT on ABC, and available the next day on Hulu. Find more of Audacy's CMA Awards coverage at audacy.com/cma.