Jason Aldean is opening up about his “Easier Gone” duet with his wife, Brittany Aldean. The song, on his forthcoming Songs About Us album, is the couple’s first duet together.
“Britt and I have been wanting to do something together for a while, but it’s like with anything, I just think it has to be the right song,” Jason tells Nashville Lifestyles. “It has to be the right timing.”
Brittany is a talented singer, even competing on American Idol in 2012. But recording a song in a studio was a first for the mother of two. Fortunately, she nailed it.
“She started to get nervous and sweaty,” Jason recalls. “It was weird because she’s never been to the studio or tried to cut a record or anything like that. The first day was her learning how it all goes. Then she went back in, knew what to expect, and just killed it.”
Jason has had 30 No. 1 singles, including his recent “Whiskey Drink.” A doting husband, he’s also a consummate professional, who would not allow anything but the best on his next album. Lady A‘s Charles Kelley, an outstanding vocalist, is one of the writers of “Easier Gone.” It wasn’t until Brittany was in the studio with Jason that he asked if she wanted to sing on it with him.
“I’m not going to put her in a position where it’s not good,” Jason says. “I told her, ‘If I tell you it’s good, you can trust me.’ And it turned out amazing. I’m excited for people to hear it.”
View this post on Instagram
What Jason Aldean Says About ‘Songs About Us’
In addition to “Easier Gone” with Brittany, Songs About Us also includes collaborations with Luke Bryan and David Lee Murphy.
“It means the world when one of my songs helps someone through a hard time—or celebrates their best moments,” Jason said when announcing the record. “This album is about all of that—the highs, the lows, and everything in between. Every track started with a real story or feeling, and together we turned those experiences into music. In the end, I realized this album is about all of us. These are songs about us.”
Jason already released “How Far Does A Goodbye Go” from Songs About Us, which is in the Top 10. Brittany stars in the video for the song. He also released “Hard To Love You,” “Lovin’ Me Too Long,” and “Help You Remember,” the latter inspired by both his uncle and his father-in-law’s battle with dementia.
“I played it for my mom, and she started bawling,” Jason says. “I played it for Brit, she started bawling. Anybody who’s dealt with dementia or Alzheimer’s — it hits them.”
Jason wrote “Help You Remember” with Kurt Allison, Tully Kennedy, John Morgan, and Lydia Vaughan. By his own admission, it’s a departure from his usual songs.
“‘Help You Remember,’ to me, that’s a really personal thing,” Aldean says. “It was something that I was out at my house one night. I called Tully, and just kind of said, ‘Man, I’ve got this idea for this song. We’ve been going through some family stuff, on my side of the family and my wife’s side of the family, where we have family members that are dealing with dementia, that kind of thing.’ And I said, ‘Man, I got this title called ‘Help You Remember.” We kind of started hashing out the idea of what we thought it was going to be. Tully took it in, and just started working on it.”
Songs About Us will be out on April 24. “Easier Gone” and two more tracks from Songs About Us will be out on January 9.