Call it the calm between the storms. “This has been a year of trying to wrap my head around what’s going on,” Aldean says. Hatless and wearing a faded Foo Fighters T-shirt, Aldean is clearly relishing some time off in the midst of his mega-selling tour. “Last year kind of took us by storm. We felt like we had a great record [in “My Kinda Party”], we felt like we had some big hits on it, but I don’t think any of us expected things to explode like they did. And when we went out and started not only selling out dates, but selling them out way in advance, we knew something was going on that was really cool.”

The spark was smoldering, and it ignited when “Dirt Road Anthem” was released in April 2011. “I went on vacation and ‘Dirt Road Anthem’ came out, and when I came back things were just crazy,” Aldean recalls, shaking his head. “You work for something for six, seven years, and all of a sudden in a matter of months”; it was ridiculous. It took a little getting used to.”

“Night Train” — arriving on Nashville indie label Broken Bow Records, which signed Aldean to a seven-album deal in 2003-shows all indications of continuing Aldean’s upward trajectory.
Night Train is multi-faceted, packed with what have become signature Aldean calling cards in pounding midtempos, smoldering ballads and rowdy party soundtracks. Having broken country/hip-hop ground so successfully with “Dirt Road Anthem,” Night Train memorably features rap elements during “The Only Way I Know,” which includes scene-mates Eric Church and Luke Bryan, and arguably the most downright fun country song to emerge this year, “1994,” which celebrates good times to a soundtrack of ’90s radio hitmaker Joe Diffie.

Elsewhere, Knox and Aldean serve up plenty of their trademark country-meets-arena rock, with the atmospheric ballad “Wheels Rollin’,” along with the pure romance of “Talk” and Aldean favorite “Staring at the Sun.” If there is a common thread in Night Train, it’s the one that runs through tracks like “Drink One for Me”: taking stock of life as adulthood settles in, less about nostalgia than the realization that the wilder, younger days have been survived.

Aldean doesn’t disagree. “Everybody does that when you get to be a certain age,” he says. “You’re not a kid anymore, you’re not an old man, you’re caught in the middle, and that’s where I am. If we sit around and talk, I don’t know one person my age that won’t bring up, ‘Man, when we were in high school we did this one night and got caught,’ or ‘I met this girl.’ It’s fun for people to reminisce about good times and things you should have got arrested for.”

Check out much more of Jason’s interview with Billboard & more details about the issue here.

Other artists scheduled to perform for the birthday celebration include Rodney Atkins, Casey James, Ricky Skaggs, Little Jimmie Dickens, Ray Stevens, Steve Wariner, and more.

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS.

Get more details on the celebration here.

“Coors Light is associated with so many of my favorite experiences… tailgating before University of Georgia games, vacations to the beach with my friends, playing bars and clubs when I was coming up in my career,” said Aldean. “This was a no-brainer partnership for me, and I’m especially looking forward to the fridge full of Coors Light they promised all of us for the road.”

The deal features dual-branded retail promotions in support of the launch of the Oct. 16 release of Aldean’s fifth studio album Night Train, including a major push across the country with retailers such as Walmart. Point-of-sale materials will feature Coors Light branding and images of Aldean. Coors Light digital marketing plans will support the program, as well as advertising in 2013.

“Jason is one of the greatest entertainers in music today, as anyone who’s been to one of his concerts will tell you,” said Dan Hennessy, senior director of marketing for the Coors Family of Brands. “Throw in a round of cold, refreshing Coors Light for you and your friends, and you have a night you’ll all be talking about long after the concert ends.”

Get a sneak peak at the article and watch a video of Jason commenting on being on the cover here.

Tune in to the 46th Annual CMA Awards, hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood and broadcast live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 8:00PM ET on the ABC Television Network.

Click here to check out our three different pre-order options, and enjoy 25% off all new Night Train merch with your pre-order purchase!

Pre-orders are also available on iTunes and Amazon.com.

The special will be streamed both live and on-demand at CBS.com, and on all VEVO platforms including any of its free mobile apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. It’ll also stream live on Radio.com‘s mobile applications & on select CBS Radio stations starting Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 9:00PM ET. If you happen to be in NYC, it will also be streamed live on CBS’s JumboTron in Times Square!

Check out the show, starting at 9:00PM ET on Wednesday, September 5, right here:

Jason’s performance on the LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN will be broadcast the following night, Thursday, Sept. 6 on CBS at 11:30PM ET.

Check your local listings here.

“Country Music’s Biggest Morning” will be held on the world’s biggest stage, when Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum announce the final nominees for The 46th Annual CMA Awards on Wednesday, Sept. 5 from Good Morning America and the Hard Rock Cafe located in Times Square in New York City.

Aldean and Lady Antebellum will announce the final nominees in five CMA Awards categories live from Good Morning America studios on ABC. The announcement will air in the 8:30 AM/ET half-hour segment of the morning news program. Following the announcement, at 9:15 AM/ET, Aldean and Lady Antebellum will head over to the Hard Rock Cafe to announce the finalists in the remaining seven categories. The last time all of the CMA Awards nominees were announced in New York City was 2005.

“The CMA Awards are ‘Country Music’s Biggest Night™,’ and it’s something that all of us look forward to all year. From the day the nominations are announced up until the show, there’s a lot of build-up and anticipation for the Awards and also for the performances,” explained Aldean. “I feel honored to be able to help make the nominations announcement on Good Morning America, and hopefully I’ll get to read some of my friends’ names that morning.”

“I’ll never forget our first CMA nomination and what that felt like,” added Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley. “The CMAs have been really good to us the last few years, and it’s still unbelievable to me when I see our name on a list of nominees. That night is always such a blast because it’s your chance to catch up with everyone and celebrate Country Music and all the hard work put in throughout the year.”

Read the full story at EW.com.

Jason had an easy task when he picked a name for his fifth album for Broken Bow Records, out Oct. 16. One of its 15 songs, “Night Train,” perfectly embodied the tone of his career. The train is moving, and it’s moving at a rapid pace.

NIGHT TRAIN‘s lead single, driving country/rocker “Take A Little Ride,” sold more digital downloads in its first week than any male country artist in history. Currently approaching the Top 10 on the Billboard country songs chart in just its fourth week, the song was Aldean’s highest chart debut to date.

“I feel really great about the songs we recorded for this album,” said Aldean. “There are some surprises on there that might raise a few eyebrows, and there’s also some more traditional stuff too. I don’t like being put in a box, and I think with every record, we’ve had a lot of variety…’Night Train’ is no different. I got to do a cool uptempo song with Luke (Bryan) and Eric (Church), who’ve both been out with me over the last two years. I love collaborations like that, and I think the fans dig it when artists get together…it keeps it interesting.”

The new album expressly builds on Aldean’s reputation for finding quality songs and for defying categorization. It covers broad turf and is held together by Aldean’s unique voice and by his refusal to stick with one sonic or lyrical theme. NIGHT TRAIN takes a twisting journey, transporting the listener through a variety of emotions and distinctive instrumental sounds, adding to Aldean’s reputation as an unpredictable, uncontainable hard rocking country artist.

Longtime producer Michael Knox is back for the fifth time, along with Aldean’s road band that, in a departure from country’s status quo, have played on every song he’s recorded in his career, creating the unique synergy between Aldean’s records and live show that he’s become known for.

“There’s no formula to music,” Aldean notes. “It’s meant to be experimented with. You’re supposed to try things. So I love getting in there with my guys and coming up with sounds that nobody else really uses.”

NIGHT TRAIN Track List:

1. This Nothin’ Town

2. When She Says Baby

3. Feel That Again

4. Wheels Rollin’

5. Talk

6. The Only Way I Know (with Luke Bryan and Eric Church)

7. Take A Little Ride

8. I Don’t Do Lonely Well

9. Night Train

10. 1994

11. Staring At The Sun

12. Drink One For Me

13. Black Tears

14. Walking Away

15. Water Tower

NIGHT TRAIN follows Aldean’sprevious disc MY KINDA PARTY, the reigning CMA and Billboard Album of the Year. Since its release in Nov. 2010 the album has sold nearly three million copies, spent 92 weeks in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart and spawned five consecutive No. one hits including the first ever TRIPLE PLATINUM digital single by a male country artist, “Dirt Road Anthem,” and the three-week chart-topper “Don’t You Wanna Stay” feat. Kelly Clarkson.

If his career is a runaway train, the real engine is his live show. Over the course of a single year, Aldean came into his own as a concert attraction – where he once crossed his fingers that he could sell out 6,000-seat venues, he’s moved to stadiums now. He’s sold out each of the shows on his 2012 MY KINDA PARTY TOUR presented by State Farm®, – often in minutes at the day of on sale. He has broken over 40 venue attendance records and the tour has gone on to sell an unparalleled 1.9 million tickets.

September 28, 2012
Mountain View
+Shoreline Amphitheatre
Pre-Sale Begins: August 14 @ 10 AM PT
Pre-Sale Ends: August 16 @ 10 PM PT
Public On Sale: August 17 @ 10 PM ET

October 26, 2012
Houston, TX
+Woodlands Pavilion
Pre-Sale Begins: August 14 @ 10 AM CT
Pre-Sale Ends: August 16 @ 10 PM CT
Public On Sale: August 17 @ 10 PM CT

To get your pre-sale tickets to the show, please complete the following steps:

Be sure to get your pre-sale tickets before the general public! Not an Aldean Army Member? +Click here to join now!