Jason Aldean Lauds Lainey Wilson After Back in the Saddle Tour

Jason Aldean saw the opening act of his latest tour working overtime, and he came away with nothing but respect. The "If I Didn't Love You" hitmaker recently reflected on his months spent on the road with Lainey Wilson and talked about how touring was different in 2021.

Hardy and Wilson opened each stop of the Back in the Saddle Tour, which wrapped last month in Tampa. Aldean admits he didn't know the Louisiana native outside of her music, specifically the song "Things a Man Oughta Know," which hit No. 1 during the tour.

"She's really cool ... real down to earth," he tells Taste of Country Nights. "Maybe the country-est person I've ever met, and that's saying a lot. I'm from Georgia."

Despite a hit song, a critically-acclaimed album and songs on the hit television show Yellowstone, Wilson and her team are still hustling and saving money where and when they can. Aldean noticed that, no doubt reflecting on his career before "Hicktown" became a hit in 2005.

"She's doing it old-school style right now, man," he says. "They're traveling around in a van still. They don't have a bus, so she's paying some dues right now."

In the long run, that worked out well for Aldean. Macon is his 10th studio album, and his 11th — Georgia — is scheduled for the spring. There are five live recordings of songs from his catalog on each album, something he did to differentiate these projects from others and something he did as a treat for fans. He's almost always recording, he admits. After nearly 18 months off the road, he tells host Evan Paul the crowd was particularly tuned up in 2021.

"People are excited to get out and experience something normal," he shares. "For a year-and-a-half, everybody was just sorta scared to death ... I feel like now people are loosening up."

The full interview with Jason Aldean will be available on Thursday (Nov. 18) to subscribers of Taste of Country, On Demand, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.