Jason Aldean Says Producing for Tyler Farr Is ‘Different’

With eight studio albums and over 20 number one hits to his name, it’s safe to say Jason Aldean knows what works for him, and he’s putting that experience to use with a new venture, stepping into the producer’s chair for his friend Tyler Farr.

“We have gone in and cut a few things on him in the past and had a good time doing it,” Aldean shared at a recent number one party in Nashville. “I liked sort of stepping out of the vocal booth and being behind everything and directing traffic a little bit.”

The duo started working on Farr’s project this summer in a rather convenient location for Aldean, who realized that the rental house he and his family moved into earlier this year is just across the street from the engineer who cuts his vocals. While the “Rearview Town” singer appreciated the opportunity for his own work, he and Farr have also been using the home to work on Farr’s album.

“Everyday, I just walk across the street, go cut some songs, walk back over to the house, and it actually worked out perfect,” the Georgia native mused. “Even with Tyler, we’re cutting over there. I can kind of be right there at the house and pop in and out for stuff. It worked out pretty well.”

Aldean and Farr are also friends outside of music and often spend time together just hanging out, so it was only natural for the “Redneck Crazy” singer’s album to be Aldean’s first foray into production.

“I feel like I’m knowledgeable enough and have enough experience to go on,” he explained. “Somebody like Tyler who’s a good friend of mine who I know really well. I feel like, number one, I would have fun with him in the studio and, number two, we would come out with a record that he’s going to be proud of and something that he’s going to be excited about, and come out with some great music.”

Aldean added that his years of working on his own music have given him the experience and competence to branch out and try something new.

“I feel like I’ve been pretty involved in that stuff with my own records since the beginning,” he said. “[Producer] Michael [Knox] and I, even before I had my record deal, we were in the studio and I was writing songs. I feel like I’ve learned a lot over the years. I learned a lot from Michael, learned a lot cutting my own records, and I feel like for me, I never want to get complacent and just feel like I’m good, my career’s doing well, and I want to feel like I’m branching out, doing some different things, and sort of pushing myself a little bit to try new things.

While the father of four is enjoying working with Farr, he admitted that he’s not sure how many more turns in the producer’s chair are in his future.

“It’s been a little bit of a different thing for me to switch gears and go, ‘Okay, this isn’t for me. I got to find songs that fit him,’” he said. “That’s a little trickier. I don’t know how much of that I want to do in the future. This is kind of my first crack at it to see how much I enjoy it or how much I know.”

“We’ll see how it goes but this is something that way further down the line, maybe something that I really want to dive into a lot more,” Aldena added. “Maybe when I’m off the road at some point a lot and have a lot more free time on my hands, it may be something I want to get into a lot more than I do right now.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Rick Diamond