Lainey Wilson, Jason Aldean and CeCe Winans lead Nashville’s Big Bash.
The star-studded broadcast helped Music City ring in 2026 at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park.
Jason Aldean’s first official duet with his wife, Brittany Aldean, isn’t a love song.
It’s a heartbreak song.
Inside the recording studio, the country star handed Brittany — a former American Idol Season 11 contestant — a track called “Easier Gone,” a smoky barroom breakup song built around the line: “Yeah, you were easier gone.”
“I’ve always been, to me when a husband and wife do a song together, it could go one of two ways,” Aldean told The Tennessean. “It’s either really cool or really cheesy.”
The singer-songwriter said he had talked with Brittany about recording together for a long time. But they never wanted to force it. The right song, he said, had to “add to the record.” Instead of a ballad or a romantic duet, Aldean chose a bruised, gritty back-and-forth.
“I was like, ‘Man, let’s do the opposite. Let’s do more of a heartache, heartbreak song,'” he said.
Brittany, who met Aldean in 2012 and married him in 2015, had never recorded in a professional studio before.
Aldean said it took “a few reps” for her confidence to settle in.
“She did some stuff in there that I wasn’t expecting,” he said. “It was like, ‘Oh, s***, let’s go.'”
The song marks the first official recorded duet between the couple after more than a decade together and six albums released during their marriage. Aldean shares two daughters from his first marriage and has more two children with Brittany.
He said fans may soon see “Easier Gone” live.
“I think that’s the plan,” he said of Brittany joining him onstage. “I think that would be a really cool thing for fans.”
‘Songs About Us’
If “Easier Gone” is the most intimate collaboration on “Songs About Us,” the title track may be the most universal.
Aldean tapped longtime friend Luke Bryan for the album’s centerpiece, a song that name-checks country icons and nods to the genre’s soundtrack-of-your-life role.
“Songs about whiskey / Songs about women / Everything between ole’ Williams and Jennings.”
In later choruses, the names shift to Haggard and Whitley, then Jones and Willie.
Aldean said the idea clicked when he thought about the artists he grew up listening to, and about the fans who have spent the past 20 years growing up on his songs.
“It’s just everybody, honestly,” Aldean said of the “us” in the title. “Songs about us, everybody.”
Collaborating with Bryan on the album was an easy call, Aldean added.
“He’s not only probably my best friend in the business, but one of my best friends in life,” Aldean said.
The two have toured together before, first in 2010 on Aldean’s Wide Open tour, then again on select stadium dates in 2013 on the Night Train tour. The two country stars will reunite April 25 to co-headline “Live Between the Hedges” at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.
Aldean describes them as “complete opposites,” with Bryan’s constant jokes balancing Aldean’s more serious approach to songwriting.
“He walks in and says something really stupid and then I start laughing and it completely changes my whole mood for the day,” Aldean said.
Onstage, he said, their chemistry is unscripted.
“It’s kind of the closest thing I could think of to being in a duo like Brooks & Dunn.”
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‘How Far Does a Goodbye Go’
More than two decades into his career, Aldean knows exactly what his fan base expects and still leans on the same trusted bandmates to deliver it, as well as longtime producer Michael Knox.
“They all know things that I like, things I don’t like, even the chord progressions I like,” Aldean said. “There are going to be certain songs that are going to go in different directions. But my core sound is always going to be there.
“Songs About Us,” his 12th studio album, arrives April 24 with 20 tracks that move between heartbreak, rural romance and guitar-heavy country.
“Drinking About You” leans into a steadier tempo and barstool regret: “I’ve had one too many shots go down / One too many memories come around.”
“Help You Remember” delivers one of the album’s most emotional moments, telling the story of memory loss and devotion through lines like: “Lord, I never thought I’d be missin’ someone right in front of me.”
On “Dust on the Bottle,” Aldean revisits David Lee Murphy’s 1995 hit alongside the original singer.
Then there’s “Country Into Rock ‘n’ Roll,” driven by thick electric guitar licks and ample swagger: “If you’re gonna backtalk / Better have some backbone.”
His formula has worked for fans around the world. Aldean has more than 12 billion streams across platforms and at least 31 No. 1 songs. His career has included awards, records and moments of controversy and political flashpoints, including the debate around “Try That in a Small Town,” his last album’s song about vigilante action. In contrast, on “Songs About Us,” there’s little fodder for political debate. Instead, Aldean’s only literal “small town” moment comes on “Little Hometown Left,” where he returns to his rural roots, singing, “I’ve been where I’ve been / But I know I’m gonna end up right where I’m supposed to be / As long as I’ve got a little hometown left in me.”
The single “How Far Does a Goodbye Go,” which recently hit No. 1 on country radio charts, nearly didn’t make the record. Aldean said the album was essentially finished when bandmates Kurt Allison and Tully Kennedy sent it over, originally thinking it could work for the next album.
“As soon as I heard it, I just called them and I said, ‘No chance we’re sitting on this thing for another couple of years,'” Aldean said.
‘Country Into Rock ‘n’ Roll’
Aldean is also building his own roster. In July 2021, alongside his longtime bandmates, he launched his Triple Play Music publishing company and Night Train Records, an imprint under BMG/Broken Bow. Then he helped sign singer-songwriter John Morgan, recently honored with his first CMA Triple Play award, meaning Morgan had three No. 1 singles in a year.
Aldean said the rising singer-songwriter first caught his ear through a demo sent by his bandmates.
“He just sounded better than anybody that I’d been listening to,” Aldean said.
Still, the country star wanted proof Morgan could do it live. So he asked for a video. Morgan, fresh off cutting grass and still wearing a bandana around his neck, recorded himself singing and sent it over.
“It was amazing,” Aldean said. “We’ve got to get this kid.”
At 48, with 12 albums behind him and a 13th arriving this week, Aldean said awards are no longer the goal. Longevity is.
That includes songs for his wife, songs for his best friend, songs for his kids and the next generation of artists, all in addition to songs for the fans who have spent the last 20 years making his music a part of their own lives.
“I want to go out and make music, make records and go tour as long as I can to do that,” he said.
Bryan West is a music reporter at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
