A Few Moments With Aaron Tippin
It was 1990 when most country music fans first heard Aaron Tippin’s resonant baritone and passion-packed songs, although there are probably a few folks around Travelers Rest, South Carolina, who remember hearing him back in the ’70s and ’80s. He came to Nashville in 1986 after winning TNN’s “You Can Be a Star” contest, and landed a songwriting deal with the legendary Acuff-Rose company. For awhile, he worked nights at an aluminum plant in southern Kentucky, driving 60 miles back to Nashville to work on songs during the day. “You’ve Got to Stand for Something” changed that, kicking off a 10-year hit streak. These days, Aaron lives in rural Tennessee with his wife, Thea, and their two sons. He farms, flies airplanes and runs several businesses.
CMC: Tell us about your new venture, Geekbox.
A.T.: There’s a guy who lives in Sparta—a small town near me. He came over and wanted to see what I thought of this portable Bluetooth mini-jukebox he’d developed. He knew I’d worked in studios and he wanted to know how it compared with studio-quality sound. First off, you think, “Yeah, okay…” but when I tried it, wow, it had power and strength. What really excited me was that my 12-year-old son flipped out over it. I saw him and I thought, “Hey, this could be a hit.”
You’re doing shows with Sammy Kershaw and Joe Diffie. The Roots and Boots tour!
That was Sammy’s title. He and Joe have been my pals forever. I thought working with them again would be cool, and I tell you, it’s been a blast. We sing our hits, tell stories. I try not to talk to either of them for a couple of weeks before a show because we want to keep it fresh onstage, but something’s always happening to Sammy, “Man, I broke my rib s…,” “Man, my house caught fire …” It’s just hard not to talk to the guy. There’s always something happening.
Do you fight over who closes the show?
We all close it together. I lost my ego a long time ago. I just want to be first back to the hotel, and asleep! Make me top of THAT bill.
You just got your instructor pilot license. How tough was that?
Really tough! My dad soloed me on my 16th birthday, and I wanted to do the same for my son on his 16th birthday. That instructor certificate is the toughest test I’ve ever done.
When you fly commercially, do you second-guess the pilot?
You know I do. I’m a backseat pilot. If I feel him jockeying the plane around, I’m thinking, ‘What’s he doing up there?’ You can’t help it.
So you can’t sit back, relax and enjoy the flight?
Nope.
One of your last solo albums was “In Overdrive,” an album of trucking songs. You must have missed trucking songs.
I can’t figure out when or why the country music industry decided that it wouldn’t do trucking songs any more. I have a commercial truck driver’s license, and I missed trucking songs, so I thought I’d do an album of them. I did a bunch of favorites like “Six Days on the Road,” “Driving My Life Away” and a couple I wrote myself.
On the cruise, will we get a chance to sample the wine you produce yourself?
We just make really small batches. Muscadine, peach, apple. Tennessee is not a great area for producing grapes for wine, but we bottle a little under the name Nippit, which is Tippin spelled backward.
We have Charley Pride on the cruise. You wrote songs for him and David Ball before you scored your first hit with “You’ve Got to Stand for Something.”
David Ball is my absolute favorite country singer. He was on RCA at the time. I wrote a song he recorded, and what a thrill to have him record that. And then, just after that, RCA signed me and started releasing my records. Suddenly, I was on the same label as David Ball and Charley Pride! I was so knocked out.
Can we expect a new album from you before too long?
I’m working on “45 Years of Aaron Tippin.” It’ll come out sometime next year. There’ll be 45 songs. Bunch of hits. I’ll put a new spin on them. Maybe some songs that I thought should have been hits and a couple of songs that no one would ever guess I know.
Such as?
“Just the Way You Look Tonight.” My wife and I danced to that on our wedding day.
Meet Aaron Tippin on The Country Music Cruise 2015. Book your cabin online or call 855.332.6868 to speak to a reservationist.