Jason Aldean Is His Own Worst Critic When It Comes to Songwriting
Scroll through the track list of Jason Aldean's latest double album Macon, Georgia, and you won't find any songwriting credits from the Georgia native. In fact, the last time Aldean's name was listed as a songwriter was on his 2009 album Wide Open on a song called "Keep the Girl." And there's a reason for that: He's extremely tough on himself.
"My problem was always and still is — it's not that I don't write or can't write," Aldean tells Apple Music. "I'm just my own worst critic."
Although the "Trouble with a Heartbreak" singer hasn't released one of his own songs in more than a decade, he has written a number of records over the course of his career. Songwriting is what initially brought the country veteran to Nashville.
"I moved here and started writing for Warner Brothers, Warner Chappell. And that's how I got to town," he reveals. "So I was the guy in there writing every day and writing a ton of songs."
His self-titled debut album featured three of his own songs. Aldean co-wrote "Even If I Wanted To," "You're the Love I Wanna Be In" and "She Loved Me" for the project.
Despite not putting pen to paper on most of the songs he records, Aldean sure knows how to pick them. Of the 38 singles he's released, 24 have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts. It's a skill he equates to that of George Strait, who was an inspiration to the "If I Didn't Love You" singer from an early age.
"George Strait's made a career on not writing anything," he points out. "He's just really good at finding songs."
Aldean's latest collection of hand-picked songs appears on his recently released Georgia album. The project is the second part of his double album Macon, Georgia, and it arrived on April 22. Notable songwriters on the album include fellow artists Brantley Gilbert, Michael Ray, Rhett Akins and Tyler Hubbard. The double album also features live recordings of some of Aldean's biggest hits, including "She's Country," "Big Green Tractor" and "Take a Little Ride."