WHO’S COMING TO AMERICAN FAMILY INSURANCE AMPHITHEATER AT THIS YEAR’S
SUMMERFEST? SUMMERFEST
Photo courtesy of Summerfest.
JUNE 23
JASON ALDEAN BY JAMIE LEE RAKE
And even as he was fashioning the template for bro’ country proponents like Brantley Gilbert, Aldean could duet with American Idol alum Kelly Clarkson a modern country equivalent of a power ballad. A more recent partnering with firebrand country traditionalist Miranda Lambert yielded an effective iteration of the heartbroken drinking song.
As he approaches his second decade in country music, Jason Aldean has proven himself both versatile and reliable bringing a sound that has sealed his brand. Debuting in 2005 in a kitsch mode with the goofy “Hicktown,” written by Big & Rich’s John Rich, Aldean quickly ramped up to more poignant fare depicting the travails of farm life with “Amarillo Sky” but wasn't above making a move like Kenny Chesney into working agricultural themes into romantic odes such as “Big Green Tractor.” Amid establishing himself as a troubadour of the agrarian heartland, the Macon native started offering up party-starting anthems including “Johnny Cash” (neither sounding like nor quoting its titular man in black), “Tattoos on This Town” and, entirely fittingly, “My Kinda Party.” With heavy guitar tones and the kind of roughneck bombast befitting the most raucous of glam metal outfits a couple decades prior, the rarely un-hatted Aldean fulfilled the lyrical prophecies of Hank Wiliams Jr. and Travis Tritt by putting rock and drive into commercial radio country to an arguably unprecedented level. Photo courtesy of Summerfest.
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