Earlier this spring, I had the opportunity to talk with Aaron Tippin, a hard-working songwriter who worked his way on to the charts during the 1990’s and over the course of the interview we discussed his career, how he got there and how he’s stayed on the charts, long after many of his colleagues fell off the charts. We also discussed his newest album, the truckin’ record “In Overdrive.”
Matt Bjorke: You’ve had a long career, what have been the keys to your success.
Aaron Tippin: Well, you know sometimes I wonder, no kidding. Next year it will be 20 years and I remember the guys that started out on the same flight, they’re gone. How I dodged the golden bee bee, I don’t know. I’ll tell you one thing I’ve done, I think has been very important; I relied on the fans to continue my career. I saw their faithfulness early and I worked that. I would go out there and sign autographs every night, I still do, and I think that’s what’s kept me in business and I think that’s I’m still here doing this and making new music. You really got to be mean to them to run them off. If you’re good to them, they remember and that you’re their friend.
Matt: Speaking to that, do you think that’s what makes country music unique, maybe than other genres because artists do take the time to meet and greet their fans?
Aaron: On my behalf I think that’s definitely the case.
Matt: After a long time with major record labels, how has it been for you to record independently the last few years?
Aaron: It’s been awesome. Because there are a lot of studios, artists, music industry players, it really becomes a machine. It’s a big process and I think that sometimes through that process, the music gets left behind. It becomes a little jaded. So when you’re doing this yourself, there’s no music exec breathing down your neck telling you what to do or to have something that radio will play or bla-bla-bla or telling you how to mix the record; you’re doing it, what they hired you to do in the first place. You get to take back the reigns. Now I go into the studio with the same guys I’ve always recorded with years and its’ so comfortable. We’re just trying to make the song work the best, not trying to make it the next flavor for radio. We don’t worry about ‘is this too country’ is this ‘too rock,’ you know we just say “this would be cool.” We just go into the studio to make the best songs we can. It’s so rewarding.
Matt: Country Crossing Records, the label your affiliated with now, is one of James Stroud’s labels isn’t it?
Aaron: That’s correct.
Matt: What’s it like to work with him?
Aaron: Love that guy. Our business got filled with business guys but James Stroud is a music guy. You talk to any artist in this town about him and they’ll say the same thing: He climbed up through the ranks. James Stroud started as a musician. James Stroud became a session leader. James Stroud became a producer, became a music executive. He climbed the same paths that the greats of our business did. Chet Akins was the last great player that ran the business. James Stroud is that guy. He’s the last one left.
Matt: His track record is phenomenal...
Aaron: Absolutely. Everybody loves him, that guy because he lets you do what you want. The truckin’ album, he said “Aaron, let’s make a truckin’ album.” I was already rolling with it and asked, do you want to do anything with it? And he said, “No, let me hear it when it’s done.” So he’s all-pro about doing what the entertainer thinks is the best.
Matt: So, with the truck record, how long have you wanted to do one of these records, as a guy who always championed the workin’ man? It seems to be a natural fit.
You’re right, I remember when I was driving truck, singing along to the songs, I thought, “it’d be cool if I was singing these songs on record” so selfishly, I hoped to one day. But really, what really got me on this were Jerry Reed and Carl P. Mayfield. I was doing Carl P’s show one night and they got to raggin’ me about doing a truckin’ record between seconds and I said, "I might do that. " I went home and got to thinking about it and felt that now was the time. So I called Jerry and said, “I do want to do one, Jerry and In fact, I want to do ‘East Bound and Down’.” That just thrilled him, to the point that he wanted to come into the studio to produce it. Unfortunately, his health deteriated too much to be able to do so but he did send his grandson, Jerry Rowe to play drums on it and he also sent his guitar player, for 20 odd years, Bobby Levitt to play on the record.
Matt: Did Jerry get to hear it before he passed?
Aaron: No, he didn’t get to but now he hears it every night…
Matt: That’s true…
Aaron: That’s why I wanted this one to be just like the record, it’s the only one because it was such an honor to have him excited about my project, which was probably the last one he got involved with before he passed away.
Matt: Do you think that country music has maybe shifted away from its blue collar roots to where it is now?
Aaron: Yeah, not that I think that anyone cares what I think (laughs), but sure. It’s gotten away a little bit from its core. I remember what it was in the 1990’s and how powerful the music was then and how many new ears there were to country music. It was so great back then because it was so different because a program director had the chance to play a song and see what the listeners think. If the phones lit up they thought “alright, I got somethin’.”
Matt: Do you think radio stations maybe are turning back to the way it was, at least slowly?
Aaron: I think it is. A lot of the major conglormates are breaking up and a lot of the stations are being bought back (by local owners). It hopefully will turn back to what it was in the early 1990s.
Matt: I think it gets back to the thought of “do we really want some guy in an office” picking songs for many stations?
Aaron: Exactly. And with the congloromates, we really only have 5-6 guys choosing the songs that get played. That’s just not how it should go because a promo guy can’t call and get a guy excited and get the song to grow because they’re jobs are now stale with only five or six guys to call.
Matt: Would you consider recording another album of favorites or songs you grew up on?
Aaron: Oh, yeah. We recorded a gospel tune for the “We Are Enterprise” tribute album and I’d like to do a gospel album and Thea, my wife, is over doing a big band album right now and I want to do one like that too. There’s a lot of stuff; Bluegrass, I wanted to do one of those someday and we’re in the process of doing one of those. Aviation, I’d love to do an aviation album, which would really fit in with Aaron Tippin (laughs).
Matt: Speaking of “We Are Enterprise,” what a great album that was. It seems that country artists are more willing, than other genres, to support charitable endeavors or do something for a tribute album, what are your thoughts on country and its charitable efforts?
Aaron: I definitely think that’s true and I’m approached all the time, like this past winter when all those storms hit in Kentucky and did a lot of damage.
Matt: Do you think it goes back to country entertainers feeling like they’re the same people who listen to the music?
Aaron: I do. This morning, I was sitting at the little truck stop at the top of the mountain, eatin’ breakfast with my boys and all of the neighbors. I was a ‘cool cat’ there for about a year but now I’m just Aaron, the guy who does country music and is just a part of the community. And that’s what I want because the music I write, play and sing is about their lives and because I live it. I still do. I try to remember that lifestyle of the people that works an honest 8, I don’t write songs that I think are great but about them so they go “yeah, that’s cool, that’s me.”
Matt: Do you have any plans to tour around the truckin’ album?
Aaron: Yeah, we’re building a show around the album and our old hits, which is what I always try to do to give people a reason to want to come out to one of my show so that it’s not just the same old thing as before.
Matt: What are your thoughts on the internet and how it relates to country music?
Aaron: I think it’s going to be powerful, someday. I also think that the country fans are still coming around to it, more so than pop and rock fans. It’s a little slower, there’s still a great appreciation for the music on the CD. And I heard someone say “until MP3 players are standard equipment in a brand new truck, country fans aren’t going to give up their CDs. Because Hillbillies don’t download music.”
Matt: I agree with that to an extent…
Aaron: But I do see the internet as my future and we work hard right now to make the internet more a part of what we do, Because it’s coming, whether we want it or not. And the easier it becomes, the more standardized it becomes; the more people will come to it.
Matt: What would you like to say to the people who are reading this interview?
Aaron: come to a show, I appreciate the years I’ve had here, coming up on 20 years now, the older I get the more I’ve learned it’s all about relationships. The fans are a part of that and I appreciate them and I hope that I bring some joy to their lives with my music because they bring a joy to me by coming out to my shows.
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