There are certain sounds that brings Jason Aldean back to his roots when he’s on the road. The voices of Georgia-born country music stars Tricia Yearwood, Travis Tritt and Alan Jackson can all trigger. A familiar song from acts that came out of his hometown such as the Allman Brothers, Little Richard or Otis Redding can send him down memory lane. For his 10th album, Macon, he decided the title should pay homage to both his birthplace and the contributions its citizens have made to music.

It’s the first half of his double album, which will be followed in April by the second half, Georgia. Each half consists of 10 new studio songs and five live tracks. The endeavor was inspired in part by both having too much time on his hands during the quarantine and by the desire to do something different for a career landmark.

“I always have a hard time narrowing songs down,” he said during an interview on Apple Music One’s Today’s Country Radio. “I feel like I’m always leaving songs on the table a lot of times because we’re trying to narrow songs to 15 or however many we’re putting on an album. And when we’re done with a record I always look back and go ‘Man, I kind of wish I could have cut that one.’”

Fans got a taste of Macon this summer when Aldean radio-released his first single from the album, “If I Didn’t Love You,” a duet with Carrie Underwood. The pair opened last month’s CMA Awards in Nashville with their first live rendition of the song, a day before Macon was released to the public. Underwood gets a night off from her Reflection residency during Aldean’s three-night (Dec. 9-11) Back in the Saddle run at Dolby Live inside Park MGM, making guest appearances at each other’s Vegas dates a scheduling possibility.

Elsewhere on the album, “Over You Again” evokes Don Henley and Post Malone, while Aldean celebrates down-home living in “Small Town Small” with laid-back lyrical flow and rat-a-tat drum looping. Drinking songs include “That’s What Tequila Does” and “This Bar Don’t Work Anymore,” while a cover of Bryan Adams’ “Heaven” is the cut most likely to become a concert spotlight.

Macon’s live cuts include “Amarillo Sky,” “Johnny Cash” and “She’s Country.” The latter was recorded in Las Vegas, which Aldean will forever have a close connection to due to being onstage during the Route 91 Music Harvest tragedy on Oct. 1, 2017. Six nights later, he helped provide solace for a traumatized city on the verge of becoming #VegasStrong when he performed Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” on Saturday Night Live.

Aldean, who posted a tweet on the day Macon was released citing Redding’s “I’ve Got Dreams” as his favorite sad song, wanted the title of his follow-up to 2019’s 9 to represent more than a number. “Ultimately, the tenth album, that’s a big deal in this day and age,” he told Today’s Country Radio. “We wanted to do something special for it.”

Dolby Live at Park MGM, 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster

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