“He absolutely killed his verse of the song,” the country star added. “And we’re both Georgia boys, so even though our music is totally different, our roots are the same. We both know about hot Georgia summers and cooling off with a six pack of two. It wasn’t that much of a stretch.”

Aldean leads the way with four nominations for this year’s awards, followed closely behind by Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift and the Zac Brown Band with three nominations each.

The 2011 CMT Music Awards mark the 10th anniversary of the awards show and will be hosted by Kid Rock live today, Wednesday at 8/7 p.m. CST.

In order to text vote, you must:
i. Provide your own wireless device capable of 2-way messaging
ii. Be a wireless service subscriber with text messaging service
iii. Use Verizon Wireless, the only participating service provider/carrier
iv. To vote via text, send the keyword number relating to the nominated music video of your choice (use the LASTNAME when a single artist or a band or duo) to the short code 8950. You can text vote as many times as you wish during the Voting Period 2. You will receive a confirmation of entry for your vote.

*Message and data rates may apply

He’s signed to Nashville independent label Broken Bow, and four albums in, Aldean has racked up 11 top 10 singles on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart (including five No. 1s), and his third single from current album My Kinda Party, the boundary-pushing “Dirt Road Anthem,” is rising quickly up the charts. Previous single “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” a duet with Kelly Clarkson, is now making noise on the Adult Top 40 chart, a rare crossover for a male country artist.

Jason Aldean Live Q&A: June 6 @ 4:30PM ET

All four of his Broken Bow records have cracked the top 10 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart — Party spent eight weeks there. Aldean has sold nearly 5 million albums in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, along with 10.5 million digital tracks. But the best heat indicator is Aldean’s box-office success. In the most competitive year in memory for contemporary country music headliners, Aldean, booked by Buddy Lee Attractions and promoted this year by Live Nation, is blowing out shows all over the place in 20,000-capacity venues.

Aldean’s growth during the past six years has been steady and sure, but prior to that the going was tough. After signing a songwriter deal with Warner/Chappell in 1998 (giving up his Pepsi delivery-truck gig in the process), Aldean moved to Nashville that fall. But, even with what must have felt like an endless parade of showcases, label after label either passed outright or failed to bring a deal home for Aldean. It was downright scary for the Macon, Ga., native: He had a wife and new baby daughter to support.

“It was like, ‘Yeah, we love it, let’s talk, we’ll come see some more shows,’ but nobody ever pulled the trigger,” he says. “I’m not somebody that gives up . . . easily, but it was getting to the point where, not that I didn’t think it was going to work, I just didn’t know what else to do. You start thinking about, ‘What else can I do?’ This was my backup plan.”

Being called “humble” is de rigueur for a country artist, but manager Clarence Spalding of Spalding Entertainment (Spalding’s Chris Parr handles Aldean day to day) says Aldean found humility the hard way. “He’s had the shit beat out of him,” Spalding says. “He almost packed his bags and went back to Georgia. And without Benny Brown he would have been there.”

Broken Bow owner Benny Brown is plain-spoken. An entrepreneur. He’s successfully added record labels and publishing to his other business endeavors, which include a string of California-based car dealerships. When Aldean came to Brown’s attention in 2003, Craig Morgan was the top artist at Broken Bow. Brown wanted to see Aldean showcase in front of “regular country fans.” It was set up at Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon. “After it was over, I told some of my staff, ‘This kid has something special. I think I’ll sign him,’ ” Brown recalls. “Everybody thought I was crazy.”

The circumstances surrounding Broken Bow signing Aldean to a seven-album deal were unusual, to say the least. Though he’d been playing music since he was 14, Aldean was, for country fans, a brand-new artist, steadfastly committed to an unproven producer in Michael Knox and sporting a rock-tinged sound. And he wanted to use his road band on the record. Brown and Broken Bow’s approach with Aldean “took huge balls,” Spalding says. “Think about it: ‘We’re gonna sign this kid, we’ve got a guy over here who’s not a proven producer, and, hey, let’s take his road band in to record with him.’ It wouldn’t have happened anywhere else like that.”

Broken Bow then did the drill: introduced Aldean to country radio. “As an independent with a new artist, you kind of take what’s given to you, which meant . . . doing a lot of free shows to promote their stations and the songs,” Broken Bow senior VP of operations Rick Shedd says. “It was a long, hard battle to moving up the charts, like it is for a lot of companies.”

But 12 weeks after Aldean’s debut set was released (July 2005) Broken Bow had its first gold album with Aldean, driven by debut single “Hicktown.” Though the song peaked at No. 10 on Hot Country Songs, its mud-slinging, hell-raising video cast the die for Aldean’s sound — and his fans. The song “was a polarizing single, different from what was going on at the time,” Shedd says. “But when people . . . were turned on by it, it sold a lot of records. It set the tone.”

A key cog in the machine has been distributor RED, which, though traditionally more active in non-country genres, has a history with country dating back to Kenny Chesney’s debut on Capricorn in 1994. Broken Bow began working with RED in 2003 when Morgan’s first record came out.

“They made a compelling argument as to why they could handle the country business, and as Broken Bow grew, they grew with us,” Shedd says. “They came with stronger sales reps and more aggressive marketing so they could service our needs, and it has continued with the growth of digital. When the digital thing started taking off, they had one person in place. Now they have 15.”

RED senior VP of product development Alan Becker says, “With Broken Bow we saw this fierce determination.” He adds that RED works closely with the label on “every important initiative,” including digital/mobile marketing through RED’s digital marketing division, Stache Media.

Aldean’s self-titled debut album has moved 1.4 million copies, and follow-up “Relentless” is at 829,000, according to SoundScan. His Wide Open album, on the strength of mega-hit “She’s Country,” went platinum, and “Party” is heading into double-platinum territory. “If you ship too many albums out into the marketplace and they don’t sell, retailers are quick to return them and you have to buy them back,” Brown says. “Our rate of return on Jason has been exceptional; almost zero.”

Click Here To Continue Reading Billboard Article

Check out JasonAldean.com each Thursday for NEW featured and exclusively discounted items!

As a thank you, Aldean Army members get an extra ADDITIONAL DISCOUNTED ITEM each week! Aldean Army members must be signed in to receive this special discount. Not an Aldean Army Member? Click Here to join now!

August 13, 2011
Sedalia, MO
Missouri State Fair

August 26, 2011
Pittsburgh, PA
First Niagara Pavilion

August 27, 2011
Chicago, IL
First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre

To get your tickets, please complete the following steps:
-Login to JasonAldean.com using your Clique ID
-Click on BUY PRE-SALE TICKETS to purchase your tickets using your Unique Ticketmaster code (found in the blue section on TOP of the Tour Page)
-Make sure to get your tickets before they go on sale to the public on Friday, June 3rd at 10AM Local Venue Time. The pre-sales will end on Thursday, June 2nd at 10PM Local Venue Time.

Not an Aldean Army Member? Click here to join now!

ENJOY THE SHOW!

Not sure what all this “pinning” and “task bar” business means? Don’t worry! It’s quick, easy and fun, and we’ve got step by step contest directions here.

Enter today for your chance to win a pair of four-day CMA Fest Passes** and an exclusive Jason Aldean t-shirt. From June 2nd-12th enter for your chance to win the grand prize of a pair of tickets to any 2011 Jason Aldean concert plus an exclusive merchandise package!

Don’t have Internet Explorer 9? You can upgrade here for free!

*Note: Only fans using Internet Explorer 9 on Windows 7 are eligible to enter the contest.

**Note: Only tickets are provided. Winner will be responsible for hotel, air, and ground transportation to the shows.

Check out JasonAldean.com each Thursday for NEW featured and exclusively discounted items!

As a thank you, Aldean Army members get an extra ADDITIONAL DISCOUNTED ITEM each week! Aldean Army members must be signed in to receive this special discount. Not an Aldean Army Member? Click Here to join now!

Speaking in an official statement before the release of the album, Aldean said that the title of the album embodied his go-it-alone approach to music and life.

“The album is named My Kinda Party because it’s totally representative of what I like and what my fans have come to expect on my records and at the ‘party’ we throw at our shows,” he said. “I think the key is knowing who you are as an artist and taking it to an extreme without ripping anybody else off . . . it’s all about knowing what it is that sets you apart.”

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift’s Speak Now inched up from the fifth spot to take the second spot from Alison Krauss & Union Station. The latter’s Paper Airplane slid into the three spot.

by RTT Staff Writer

Joining Jason Aldean on the August 19th show will be very special guests Chris Young and Thompson Square.

Tickets for this Friday’s concert will be honored for the August 19th show. Current ticket holders who cannot attend the new date will receive a full refund at point of purchase.

Aldean’s high-profile duet with the former American Idol champ has helped fuel the most recent surge in popularity and is shaping up as the biggest hit of an already impressive career. “This duet may bring us a lot of fans that wouldn’t normally hear our music,” says Aldean, 34, who performed the tune with Clarkson on Idol last month.

Since breaking out in 2005 with debut single Hicktown, Aldean has quietly and determinedly built a career that now rivals those of superstars such as Brad Paisley, Keith Urban and Tim McGraw. But the earrings he sports in each ear are about as glitzy as he gets. Rarely seen without his Wrangler jeans, cowboy hat and boots, Aldean is a laid-back family guy who exudes an easy confidence. In August, he will celebrate 10 years of marriage to his high school sweetheart, Jessica. The two live on 20 acres just south of Nashville, where Aldean can be seen at the softball games of daughter Keeley, 8, or eating popcorn at Target with daughter Kendyl, 3.

Onstage, it’s a different story: He rocks out guitar-driven country tunes for an audience that works hard and plays harder. Aldean doesn’t expect his riff-heavy brand of country to cross over to the pop charts too often. Still, he says, “you want as many people as possible hearing your songs.”

His album My Kinda Party recently became the third million-seller of his career and has made him one of country radio’s five most-played acts in 2011. He’ll kick off the next leg of his My Kinda Party tour on July 8 at Milwaukee’s SummerFest, with Chris Young and duo Thompson Square as opening acts. “You’ve got to do what makes you happy, things you enjoy doing,” Aldean says. “You just hope there’s a lot of people out there that dig what you do and want to come along for the ride.”

Written by: Brian Mansfield
Click Here to Read Article

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WHAT IS THE CONTEST?

Jason Aldean has been nominated for FOUR 2011 CMT Music Awards! The Aldean Army would like you to encourage your friends & family to vote for Jason Aldean. Please place this banner on your website, facebook, myspace, twitter, message boards, and/or other sites. Here is the banner and embedded code:

To save this image, right-click and select “Save Image As…”

Please place this link with the banner: http://www.cmt.com/cmt-music-awards/

OR COPY AND PASTE THIS CODE TO POST

Once you have posted this banner, please take a screen shot and send it to: jasonaldean@contests.sparkart.com.

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WHAT CAN I WIN?

The grand prize winner will receive one (1) free year of Aldean Army membership + two (2) tickets to a 2011 Jason Aldean Concert of their choice! Three (3) random runners up will receive a free Jason Aldean T-Shirt.

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HOW DO I ENTER?

Please send us your entry via email to jasonaldean@contests.sparkart.com and include your screen shot photo as an attachment. Please put ‘CMT Music Awards Voting Contest’ in the subject line. In the body of the email, please include the following information:

1.) You First and Last name

2.) Name of your town/city and state

3.) Your email address registered with the Aldean Army (the one you use to sign into Aldean Army)

Submissions for the contest must be received by 6/6/2011 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. Please see the Official Rules for alternate methods of entry.

Finally, and most importantly, do not forget to attach your photo of where you posted!

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WHAT ARE THE GUIDELINES?

Make sure your photo file is no larger than 1 MB. Unfortunately, files larger than 1 MB will not be received by our email system. Winner is chosen at random. Timing and method for delivery of prizes will be determined at the sole discretion of management.

Please do not submit any photos containing nudity, violence or any other graphic imagery. Any inappropriate photo submissions will automatically place your entire account under review for ban.

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HOW TO TAKE A SCREEN SHOT

How to take a screenshot on a MAC:

You can take a screen shot by pressing the Command, Shift, and 3 keys all at once. You’ll hear the sound of a camera shutter, that means your screen shot has been created! You can find the screen shot in the main level of your hard drive. Screen shots are saved in PICT format.

How to take a screenshot on a PC:

Take a screenshot of the entire screen. Press the “Print Screen” (it could be labeled “PrtScn” or “PrntScrn”) button on your keyboard. It can be found near the top, to the right of all the “F” keys (F1, F2, etc) and often in line with the arrow keys.

View this screen-shot for further use by using Paint or some other graphics program. Do not use Microsoft Photo Editor; this program will only record part of your screenshot. When you are in Paint at a blank page click on “Edit” and then click on “Paste” and your screen shot will appear on the blank page.
To save, just go through the usual steps for saving a picture or graphics item (for example, click File, then Save As or Save.)

QUESTIONS?

All questions regarding this contest should be submitted to Aldean Army Customer Support at jasonaldean@support.sparkart.com.

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Click Here for Contest Rules

OFFICIAL RULES

VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. OPEN TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE U.S. (EXCEPT PUERTO RICO) AND CANADA (EXCEPT QUEBEC) 13 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER.

1) RANDOM DRAWING: CMT Music Awards Voting Contest (the “Random Drawing”).

2) RANDOM DRAWING SPONSOR: The Aldean Army Fan Club, Jason Aldean, Spalding Entertainment, Sparkart Group, Inc., and their respective affiliates and subsidiaries, advertising and promotional agencies, suppliers of prizes, material and services related to this Random Drawing (collectively, “Sponsor and its Agents”).

3) ELIGIBILITY: Open to legal residents of the U.S. (except Puerto Rico) and Canada (excluding Quebec) 13 years of age or older. An entrant who is a minor in his/her state or province of residence must have the signed, written consent and all required paperwork completed by his/her parent or legal guardian in order to participate. Sponsor and its Agents and members of their immediate families and people living in the same household of each are not eligible. Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Random Drawing Rules and Sponsor’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Random Drawing.

4) TO ENTER: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. NO ENTRY FEE, PAYMENT, OR PROOF-OF-PURCHASE IS REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS RANDOM DRAWING.

(a) Email Entries: Go to the “Contests” section of the website, follow the “How to Enter” instructions, and send an email with all required information (and with the Submission attached, if applicable) to jasonaldean@contests.sparkart.com.

(b) Mail Entries: Mail a business envelope or postcard containing your Submission (if applicable) and entry hand printed or typed with your full name, shipping address, telephone number with area code, email address, and username to: Aldean Army c/o CMT Music Awards Voting Contest, P.O. Box 8639, Emeryville, CA 94662.

All entries must be received by June 6, 2011 at 10:00 AM PST, regardless of method of entry. No facsimiles or mechanically reproduced entries (other than the electronic transmission of the online entry or entry via email) will be allowed. Limit one entry per person regardless of method of entry. In the event that there is more than one entry for the same person, Sponsor and its Agents may disqualify that person. Each entry must be mailed in a separate outer mailing envelope. Sponsor and its Agents are not responsible for incomplete, lost, late, stolen, damaged, illegible, misdirected or postage due entries. Sponsor and its Agents reserve the right to cancel, terminate, or modify any entry not capable of completion as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, force majeure, or technical failures of any sort. All entries and Submissions (if applicable) become the property of Sponsor and its Agents and will not be returned.

5) ENTRY PERIOD: The entry period for the Random Drawing commences on or about May 18, 2011 and continues through June 6, 2011.

6) WINNER SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION: Four (4) winners will be chosen by random drawing. Winners will be notified by email and/or telephone on or about June 13, 2011 and potential winners may be required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Publicity/Liability Release (where lawful) within 10 days of the date of notification. If the Affidavit of Eligibility and Publicity/Liability Release is not received within 10 days of the date of notification, the prize may be forfeited (at the sole discretion of Sponsor and its Agents) and an alternate winner selected. If the potential winner is a resident of Canada, he/she may be required to correctly answer a skill question in order to receive the prize, and only potential winners who correctly answer the skill-testing question will be eligible to win and receive a prize. The skill-testing questions may be part of the entry process or the process in which the potential winner is notified and required to sign and return the paperwork specified above. In either case, the correct answer to the skill question must be submitted within the time limits set forth herein for the submission of the drawing entry or the winner paperwork, as applicable. Sponsor and its Agents reserve the right to require a potential winner to submit to a confidential background check to confirm eligibility and help ensure that the use of any such person in advertising or publicity will not bring the Sponsor and its Agents into public disrepute, contempt, scandal or ridicule or reflect unfavorably as determined by the Sponsor and its Agents in their sole discretion. A winner who is a minor in his/her state or province of residence must have all required paperwork completed and signed by his/her parent or legal guardian within the time period specified above, or the prize may be forfeited (at the sole discretion of Sponsor and its Agents) and an alternate winner selected.

7) GROUNDS FOR DISQUALIFICATION: Sponsor and its Agents reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to disqualify any individual deemed to be (a) tampering or attempting to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the random drawing or any website of the Sponsor and its Agents; (b) violating the Official Random Drawing Rules; (c) violating the terms of use, conditions of use and/or general rules or guidelines of any web site, fan club, or other service, or (d) acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another entrant, Sponsor and its Agents, or any other person. Any attempt by any person to deliberately damage any web site or undermine the legitimate operation of the Random Drawing is a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor and its Agents reserve the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law.

8) PRIZES: One (1) random grand prize winner will receive one (1) Aldean Army membership for a year + two (2) tickets to a 2011 Jason Aldean Concert. This prize has an estimated retail value of $150. Three (3) random runners up will receive a free Jason Aldean T-Shirt. This prize has an estimated retail value of $25. Sponsor and its Agents make no representations or warranties of any kind concerning the appearance, performance or safety of any prize awarded. Limit of one prize per person, household and address. Prizes will be delivered only to addresses in the United States or Canada. The timing and method of delivery of the prize will be determined as the sole discretion of Sponsor and its Agents. Return of any prize or prize notification as undeliverable may result in the prize being forfeited and an alternate winner selected. The winner shall bear all risks of loss or damage to prize after it has been delivered. No prize substitutions or cash equivalents are allowed, except at the sole discretion of the Sponsor and its Agents. Prizes may not be transferred. All federal, state, and local taxes associated with the receipt of any prizes are the sole responsibility of the winner. If the prize includes the online posting of materials, including but not limited to photos, text, audio, video, animation, graphic art, illustration, etc., then the location and duration of such posting will be determined solely by Sponsor and its Agents. Prizes for which a minor has been selected may be awarded to his/her parent or legal guardian.

9) GENERAL: Sponsor and its Agents reserve the right to cancel or modify the Random Drawing if fraud, technical failures, or any other factor impairs the integrity of the Random Drawing, or for any other reason or for no reason, as determined by the Sponsor and its Agents in their sole discretion. In such event, Sponsor and its Agents reserve the right to (but are not required to) award the prizes at random from among all non-suspect, eligible entries received up to the time of the impairment or cancellation. By entering, you: (a) agree to release the Sponsor and its Agents from all liability, injuries, loss and/or damage of any kind arising from your participation in the Random Drawing and the acceptance, possession and use/misuse of any prize; (b) agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor and its Agents; and (c) give your express permission to be contacted by Sponsor and its Agents by email, mail or phone. By submitting an entry, you further consent to the use of your name, address, image, voice, likeness, statements, biographical material, as well as any additional photographic images, video images, portraits, interviews or other materials relating to you and arising out of your participation in this Random Drawing (with or without using your name) in any media, whether now known or hereafter invented, throughout the world for any purpose whatsoever, without limitation, and without additional review, compensation, or approval from you or any other party (except if winner is a resident of Tennessee or where otherwise prohibited by law). If you are selected as a winner, prior to receiving the prize, you must agree to sign an affidavit to such effect, unless the winner is a resident of Tennessee or otherwise where prohibited by law. Each winner is responsible for all federal, state and local taxes applicable to the acceptance and use of his/her prize. All applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. The Random Drawing is governed by laws of the United States and all claims must be resolved in the United States. You further agree that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Random Drawing or any prizes awarded shall be resolved individually without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California or the appropriate California State Court located in San Francisco County, California. Should any of the provisions of the Official Random Drawing Rules be found to be invalid or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, that portion shall be deemed severed or restricted and the remainder of the Contest Rules shall remain in full force and effect. The failure of Sponsor and its Agents to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.

10) RELEASE: You release, and agree to indemnify and hold harmless, Sponsor and its Agents, and their respective officers, directors, employees and agents (the “Released Parties”) from and against all claims (know and unknown), liabilities, injuries, death, loss and/or damages of any kind arising from your participation in the Random Drawing or the acceptance, possession or use or misuse of the prize. You assume all risks associated with the Random Drawing or use or misuse of the prize, and you agree that the Released Parties will not be responsible or liable for any injury, harm, death, damages, costs or expenses.

11) WINNERS LIST & OFFICIAL RULES: The names of the winners will be posted on the News section of Jason Aldean’s website after eligibility is confirmed. To obtain the name of a winner, send a request via email to jasonaldean@contests.sparkart.com or mail a letter request and self-addressed stamped envelope to: Jason Aldean Fan Club, c/o CMT Music Awards Voting Contest CONTEST, P.O. Box 8639, Emeryville, CA 94662.. Requests must be received by June 20, 2011.