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Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010

Fans watch singer Jason Aldean as he tours Music Hall of Fame

Most people who visit the Georgia Music Hall of Fame don’t get a personal tour with the museum’s director.

And most people don’t get two off-duty police officers to make sure they get plenty of elbow room as they take in exhibits on Chet Atkins, James Brown and the B-52’s.

Then again, most people aren’t Jason Aldean, the country star famous for “Big Green Tractor” and other hits from his platinum (1 million copies) album “Wide Open.’’

Aldean grew up in Macon but now lives south of Nashville. He was in his hometown Saturday to perform a sold-out concert at the Macon Coliseum. The concert was scheduled for the evening, which left his afternoon open for doing something he’d never done before — tour the music hall of fame.

Earlier in the week Aldean’s Web site posted a notice of the upcoming visit. Fans paid attention — several dozen showed up to take photos and get autographs,

“We’ve had Jason Aldean fans calling from all over the South for the last three days,” said Georgia Music Hall of Fame Executive Director Lisa Love

“He’s so pretty, yes he is!” said Dorrie Newsom, 50, of Macon. “My husband and I are buying a big green truck, a Peterbilt, and right under my name on the side of the cab I’m going to write, ‘My Big Green Tractor.’”

Eric Carr, 40, drove all the way from Plant City, Fla., to see Aldean in Macon.

“I’ve been a fan since his first album came out,” said Carr. “The new transitions in his vocal abilities are awesome.”

Ciera Williamson, 16, came from Gray with a few of her friends to catch a glimpse of Aldean at the hall of fame.

“He’s great,” Williamson said. “He makes good music, he looks great and he’s from here.”

During the tour, Aldean was followed by journalists snapping pictures, wielding video cameras and holding microphones.

When his tour took him near his waiting fans, some shouted, “Look! Windsor!” They pointed to clothing bearing the name of Windsor Academy, the Macon private school that Aldean attended.

A young boy wore a green John Deere cap. “Hey, cool hat!” Aldean said, to the boy’s delight.

After Aldean had visited the Skillet Licker Cafe, the Rhythm & Blues Revue and other themed exhibits, he moved to a secluded gallery to give interviews to “CMT Insider” and local news organizations.

Aldean said he learned a lot during his museum tour, including the fact that country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons was from Waycross. Aldean also talked about how his career has recently entered a new stage — the sold-out arena stage.

“It’s a new thing, believe me,” Aldean said. “Going into the fall last year we started noticing that with a lot of our shows, we were counting on there being 5,000 people there and all of a sudden we were selling 7,000 tickets for those shows. Our fall tour started selling out, which kind of gave us an idea of what to expect for this year. Our first show was in Greenville, S.C., last night and we did I think over 11,000 there. So it’s a new development, man.”

Aldean’s debut album came out in 2005. It yielded the No. 1 country hit, “Why,” and earned him the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Male Vocalist award. Although Aldean has enjoyed stardom for several years now, he had time to settle down and start a family before it came. He and his wife, Jessica, (also from Macon) have two young daughters, 6-year-old Keeley and 2-year-old Kendyl.

“I started playing music when I was 14 and moved to Nashville at 21 and my first single didn’t come out until I was 28,” Aldean said. “For me, life has definitely changed for sure. I’m kind of glad it happened a little later for me. Honestly, I think it helped me prepare for it a little better and learn to kind of appreciate it once it did finally happen.”

Aldean, 32, said Nashville stardom is “a lot more work than what I thought it would be. I thought you just went out and made a record and then you went out and played some shows, and that was it. It’s a lot more work than that. But I love it. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.”

He says his older daughter has caught on that daddy’s a star, but “there’s a lot of people out there that she thinks are much cooler than I am, believe me.”