PHOTOS
Randy Shemanski
Jason Michael Carroll burst onto the country music scene in 2007 after his debut album, Waitin’ in the Country, produced three straight Top 40 country hits and rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Country chart. His follow up, Growing Up Is Getting Old, was released in April and produced two more Top 40 hits, “Where I’m From” and “Hurry Home.”
The 31-year-old will perform at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday, Nov. 3 as part of the Froggy 101 Guitars & Stars show that also includes Kellie Pickler, Phil Vassar and Jimmy Wayne. The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are $27. For more information, visit www.scrantonculturalcenter.org.
Carroll, who recently cut his long, sometimes blonde, sometimes dark (and popular) hair, spoke with ec/dc by phone recently to discuss his latest album, his hit single “Hurry Home” and cutting his hair.
Tell me about the idea behind your latest album, Growing Up Is Getting Old, and how it tells the story of growing old.
It was more of kind of where I’m at in life. ... While we were making the second record, I remember thinking to myself that now I have to get up early for (interviews), I can’t go hang out tonight, I shouldn’t be drinking tonight, it’s the first night of a long run. I started thinking a lot more about the business and that’s when it really hit me, man, this growing up really is getting old.
And the single, “Hurry Home,” has a bit of a personal note for you, right?
It does. I try to record nothing but songs that mean something to me. ... I didn’t write it (the song was written by Zane Williams), but I remember the first time I heard it I knew it was definitely something that I wanted to record because it reminded me of my mom’s older sister, my aunt Jean, who ran away when I was 2 from an abusive husband. For 16 years of my life, we prayed for this lady that I didn’t know at our bedtime prayers. In 16 years, we did not miss one night of prayers. I remember one Christmas at my grandmother’s the phone rang and I answered it. The lady asked for my grandmother and I took the phone over to my grandma and there was something about the way the conversation was going that really made me pay attention to it and we all figured out that it was my aunt Jean calling after 16 years.
Why did you decide to cut your hair last week?
Because nobody told me to. (Laughs) It was one of those things that I really felt that it was time for a change. Growing up is getting old and my hair has been long for over 10 years now and I got thinking about it. The hair with fans was never an issue; the hair in the industry may or may not have been an issue. I kept hearing from people, man, you should cut your hair. I looked at the positive side and the negative side and it came down to me being ready to do what I want to do and trying to make a change. I didn’t tell anybody I want. I literally went to the salon and said, “Here, can you do this?”