Jason Aldean has come a long way since the day he packed his bags and left his hometown of Macon, GA to pursue the Nashville dream. No matter how much success he achieves and where his career takes him, the Country hitmaker will never forget his roots. On Friday, November 12, Aldean celebrated the release of the first installment of his tenth studio album MACON with a special show for fans as part of SiriusXM and Pandora’s Small Stage Series.
The intimate performance held at Marathon Music Works in Nashville was open to Sirius XM subscribers and Pandora listeners. At this level in his career, it’s not every day that fans get to see Aldean play to such a small room. He reflected onstage at the venue that the moment took him back his early days as an artist, playing in bars.
The evening was hosted by none other than SiriusXM’s “The Highway” host Storme Warren with up-and-coming Country artist and songwriter John Morgan opening the show. Morgan —who is currently supporting Aldean on his “Back In The Saddle Tour” —co-wrote Aldean’s current single with Carrie Underwood, “If I Didn’t Love You”.
Aldean traced the steps of his career leading him to this tenth studio album by playing a series of his hits throughout the years. He had the dynamic crowd captivated with so many of the songs that have brought him to this moment, like “Hicktown”, “Big Green Tractor”, “Crazy Town”, “Lights Come On”, and “You Make It Easy”, in addition to newly released songs off MACON. The dedicated audience – that braved the rain in a line that spanned blocks outside the venue– sang so loudly to Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem” that he stepped back and let them carry the song.
Both the in-person crowd and listeners tuning in from across the country got to experience new music from this first wave of MACON songs, including the first three songs on the track list “That’s What Tequila Does”, “Small Town Small”, and current radio single “If I Didn’t Love You”. Aldean made a point to acknowledge his longtime producer Michael Knox, who has been with Aldean from the very beginning and produced every one of his 10 studio albums.
With plans to roll out the entire album by April 2022, the three-time ACM Entertainer of the Year and ACM Artist of the Decade will gradually be releasing the entire 30-song double album. This first installment that was released earlier in the day on Nov. 12 ahead of the event, features 10 new songs and five live tracks.
This exclusive event allowed fans to experience Aldean, who is Pandora’s #1 most-streamed Country artist of all time, amassing over 11 billion lifetime streams, in a personal and special performance. Since launching in August, the Small Stage Series has featured a variety of artists and comedians from all genres in iconic venues, including Country artists Kane Brown and Kenny Chesney.