Jake Owen on New Music That’s Unlike Anything Else, Hillary Scott’s Bus Fire

Taste of Country caught up with recently-shorn heartthrob Jake Owen before the 2015 ACM Awards and got the scoop on his new album, which he reveals is halfway done. Though Owen has written a lot, he says, so far none of his originals have made the cut.

“No winners yet from my pen,” he tells ToC, “which is totally okay with me. I’ve had a lot of success with songs I didn’t write and I’ve had success with songs I did, but to me at this point in my life and career, it’s just about the best."

One of the songs that will be on the new album, though not directly inspired by life events, aligns well with feelings the artist has been processing through his father’s battle with cancer and the birth of his daughter, Pearl.

“I recorded a song called ‘Everybody Dies Young,’ and it’s not about dying, it’s about living,” the singer dishes. “Everything my dad went through, to see him come out of it, and then the birth of my daughter — it was the first time in my life I approached the thought of ‘what would happen if,’ you know, the death thing, and then the birth thing was in my life as well, so I kind of got this whole feeling of this whole gamut of what life’s about. It really represents where my head was at. My new music is really about happiness and loving people and just living life."

Along with that sense of optimism comes a new sound, Owen says. The likely new single, which isn’t official yet, is a departure from his previous music.

“It’s rockin’,” he shares. “It’s funky, man. It doesn’t sound like anything else."

Owen is on the road frequently, traveling from show to show with his wife and daughter, which can be unnerving at times, especially in light of Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott’s recent bus accident, in which the vehicle actually caught on fire as the result of a too-hot tire.

“I saw Hillary, and I know she has a baby like I do, and the first thing I asked her was ‘was the baby with you?’ and she said, ‘no, thankfully not,’” Owen remarks.

Though Owen has thankfully never had a bus accident, having a child with you on the road does add a brand new level of uneasiness.

“I do worry about stuff like that, ‘cause my little girl sleeps right above my wife and I when we’re going down the road. When we go to bed at night, we sleep going 80 miles an hour. People don’t know the feeling of being dead asleep and all of a sudden feeling rumble strips. You kinda just pray that everything’s okay," Owen admits.

Fans can keep an eye out for Owen’s new sound by following him on Twitter, where he recently teased followers with a comment about the potential single from the new record.

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