Jason Aldean continues to take musical risks

“Burnin’ It Down,” the first single off Jason Aldean’s current album, “Old Boots, New Dirt,” has become one of the biggest hits of the country superstar’s career.

After its release last fall, the song took just two weeks to reach the top of Billboard magazine’s Hot Country Songs singles, ending 2014 as the year’s No. 2 single on that chart with sales of more than 1.4 million.

But “Burnin’ It Down” was far from a unanimous choice for “Old Boots, New Dirt’s” lead single.

“That’s a song where I got a lot of sort of resistance from the label and from even from my management and a lot of people on my team,” Aldean said in an early February phone interview.

The reason? “Burnin’ It Down” was not the typical Aldean song. A simmering ballad, its rhythm track is built around a loop and other programmed percussion mixes with drums and the traditional instrumentation of the song. In fact, one could easily argue that it draws more from today’s glossy pop and hip-hop productions than from anything country, which was why some in Aldean’s camp saw it as a risky single.

“They wanted something that was a little more safe,” said Aldean, who plays Intrust Bank Arena on Thursday. “But to me, I felt like my career hasn’t become what it is by me playing it safe, ever. The biggest songs we’ve had are things that were a little left of center and things that we sort of stuck our neck out on a little bit and took some chances. And I felt like this was one of those songs. Plus, it was just a great song.”

“Burnin’ It Down” isn’t the only time Aldean has gambled on a song that tested country radio’s status quo. “Dirt Road Anthem,” which featured a pair of rap segments to go with its easy-going country sound, is another example of the adventurous side to Aldean’s music. That 2010 song also generated mixed opinions before being green-lighted as a single.

The song, co-written by Aldean and fellow star Brantley Gilbert, went on to become Aldean’s biggest single to date. It sold more than 4 million copies and remains the biggest-selling song in digital history for a male country solo artist. Aldean sees plenty of upside in pushing the envelope at country radio.

“I think a song like that is going to reach a lot more people just because you’re reaching out into maybe the pop world and grabbing some people over there – not that I want to be a pop singer by any means,” the Macon, Ga., native said. “But I also think when you record music, you want as many people listening to it as possible. If you’re able to go out and grab a few people that normally wouldn’t listen to country music and sort of draw them in to what we’re doing over here, I think that’s a good thing.”

It’s not just the choice of singles that has given Aldean a reputation as a bit of a risk taker. With each of his six studio albums, he has sought to walk the line between maintaining his signature sound and cutting songs that take him in new stylistic directions. He feels “Old Boots, New Dirt” is his most adventurous album yet.

“I think you just kind of want to grow a little bit with each album, and I feel like this was one of those albums that probably shows it more than any other album that we’ve done probably,” Aldean said.

“Old Boots, New Dirt” has become the latest in an unbroken string of platinum-selling albums for Aldean that began with a self-titled album and continued with each of his succeeding releases – “Relentless” (2007), “Wide Open” (2009), “My Kinda Party” (2010) and “Night Train” (2012). Those successes have made him a bona fide arena act and one of only a few country artists who have been able to headline outdoor stadium shows in some cities.

Aldean will be back out filling arenas this spring and summer, and between his summer dates, he has sprinkled in about a dozen co-headlining stadium shows with Kenny Chesney.

The show Aldean is taking out figures to be a visual as well as musical treat. “It’s called the ‘Burn It Down’ tour, so obviously we’ve incorporated a lot of fire, a lot of flame, a lot of heat coming,” Aldean said.

“Obviously you want it to sound as good as possible, but visually you want it to look great, too. I think from that standpoint, this is by far the coolest thing we’ve ever had on the road.”

This story was originally published April 2, 2015 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Jason Aldean continues to take musical risks."