Country comes to town

By: TONY MARKS
Associate Editor

Headlining the 25th Annual Louisiana Smoked Meat Festival this Saturday night is none other than Nashville recording artist Aaron Tippin. He has a few surprises in store, especially for the veterans, and plans on celebrating with the fans.
Tippin still enjoys going on the road and performing for an hour and half in front of fans that he calls “family.”
“They have been so great to me over the years, and they’re still coming out to the shows,” he said. “That’s why I still sign autographs every night. I just want to get out there and shake their hand and give them a big hug just to say thank you.”
The artist is celebrating a silver anniversary of his own as this year marks 25 years in the country music industry. “I think about it and go ‘Wow,’” he said. “’What am I doing still here?’ But to be here 25-years doing it, I am the luckiest hillbilly that ever lived.”
He began his time in Nashville as a songwriter who wrote songs for acts such as The Kingsmen, Mark Collie, and Charlie Pride. By this time he had all but given up hope on becoming a recording artist himself. He admits; however, nobody was more surprised than him when RCA called in 1990 to join the label.
“I thought my chances were gone,” he said. “I came to town when I was about 25-years old. I had been seriously trying to get a record deal for about three or four years. I just thought ‘Man, this ain’t gonna happen.’ I really had settled into song writing, and my songs started to get recognized.”
“One of the gals at RCA, Mary Martin, heard me singing my demos,” he continued. “She said ‘Who is that?’ They said, ‘That’s that Tippin guy down there who writes for (Roy) Acuff.’ She said, ‘That’s hillbilly. That’s country. Let me hear what else he’s got. I want to meet him.’”
Tippin recalled the vibe that he had as he first met with label head Joe Galante. “The label was on fire,” he said. “Clint Black was on top of the charts, along with The Judds and Keith Whitley. What a great team to fall into. I’m so thankful that Joe took a chance on me. It sure worked out, and I had a great run there. I remember when he sent me my plastic Nipper dog and my Varsity Jacket. I couldn’t believe it.”
His first single “You’ve Got to Stand for Something,” made it up the Billboard Country charts and settled at the number six spot. The song also gave him the opportunity to meet the legendary Bob Hope.
“When the song started to get played in Los Angeles, we got a call from Bob Hope’s daughter Linda,” he said. “She heard the song, and asked if I’d be interested in going over and entertaining the troops. I never in a zillion years dreamed I would be on the Bob Hope show.”
Over the years a string of successful hits followed including “There Ain’t Nothing Wrong with the Radio,” “My Blue Angel,” and “Workin’ Man’s PhD.” According to Tippin these songs were successful because they “touched a nerve” with his “blue-collar audience.”
“You either liked it or hated it,” he stated. “I think several times during my record career, we tried to change and follow trends and stuff. But, it never seemed to work for me. The most success I had in the business was with songs that I crafted. I think it makes a fan able to identify with me easier because these songs are about me.”
“I tell people,” he continued, “I get recognized a whole lot faster in a truck stop than I do in my tuxedo walking into the back of the (Grand Ole) Opry. You better check my credentials when I have a tuxedo on because it doesn’t look right.”
Tippin, upon leaving RCA, signed with Lyric Street Records as the label’s flagship artist. His debut single with the new label was “For You I Will,” and he spoke fondly of his time there. “I was happy to be one of the first people they signed,” he said. “I enjoyed my time there as well.”
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, he released “Where the Stars and Stripes and Eagle Fly.” The song quickly ascended up the charts and became part of the sound track of the country.
“I wanted to talk to Americans about who we are at heart, and the fact that when the going gets tough, that’s when we really stand up,” he said. “We may have a lot of differences when everything is calm and fine, but when it hits the fan I think we’re the best in the world at sticking together and rallying around the cause. I wanted us to be proud as Americans and to get back on with living free.”
His current project features 25 songs that include 10 old ones, 10 new ones, and five that “you never thought you would hear me do.” He plans on doing some big band songs, some bluegrass, some Gospel, and some southern rock.
“I’d like to take a shot at some of that,” he said. “I don’t know what the fifth cut is going to be. We’ve got the hits cut, and we’re fine tuning the new ones. We just want to make sure that it’s everything I want it to be. It’s important to me because I don’t know if I will make 50-years or not.”
Aaron Tippin will perform Saturday, June 3, 2017, from 10:00 pm until midnight. He will take the stage under the new pavilion behind the Ville Platte Civic Center.