Jackson Dean chatted with Billboard on the red carpet of the 2023 CMA Awards.
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00:00 Hey, we're here with Jackson Dean.
00:02 How's it going tonight?
00:03 - It's going good.
00:04 It's starting to get a little lively in here, I think.
00:07 People are filing in.
00:08 I was early.
00:10 I've been walking around for a while, so.
00:12 But yeah, I'm feeling good, feeling good.
00:14 - Do you like getting here early before the madness?
00:17 What's your strategy for award shows?
00:19 - You just kind of ease on into it, you know.
00:23 I don't like really waiting in lines,
00:25 so I just kind of walked in and were like,
00:27 "Hey, we're here, just come and say hi."
00:30 You know, yeah, I don't need to be in,
00:33 I run hot enough as is, you know,
00:36 a lot of people in one place, you know.
00:40 - So we need to talk about,
00:41 you're going out on tour with Lainey Wilson.
00:42 Congratulations.
00:44 Tell me how that happened.
00:45 Have you met her?
00:46 What's that relationship like?
00:47 - Yeah, I've played a couple shows here and there
00:50 over the last couple of years with Lainey.
00:53 Her drummer and her guitar player
00:56 actually grew up about 30 minutes away from me.
01:00 One of my first gigs playing live,
01:03 like and getting paid for it,
01:05 was like, they gave me 60 bucks to go open the show
01:07 in the bar that I started in.
01:10 So it's a little full circle moment.
01:14 It's pretty cool.
01:15 Her dude, Duck, is really awesome.
01:17 I met him probably two years ago,
01:20 or not two years ago.
01:21 They definitely hadn't told anybody
01:23 they was together yet.
01:24 But yeah, he's great.
01:27 And Lainey's a complete badass.
01:29 I just watched her do Strawberry Wine last night at BMI.
01:33 She's absolutely killing it.
01:37 She's one-two this morning.
01:39 And she's up for another seven.
01:43 So it's just like, oh my God, go get it, you know.
01:47 But yeah, everywhere that we're not going with her next year
01:51 we're going on our own headline tour
01:53 for 11 weeks, starting Q1.
01:56 I think we're scooting over for a couple shows in Australia
02:01 with her as well.
02:02 I think they just got re-racked this morning.
02:07 Probably announcing tomorrow.
02:08 - All right, busy, very busy year ahead.
02:11 So Lainey's tour is called Country's Cool Again,
02:13 which I love.
02:14 Tell me why is that a fitting title for you?
02:17 Do you believe that to be true?
02:18 Are you seeing what we're seeing
02:19 with the sort of mainstream moment
02:22 for country music right now?
02:23 - I think it always was.
02:26 I just don't think it always was to the masses, you know.
02:28 I think a lot of what got put in front of public eye
02:32 was not us, you know.
02:34 And I think Combs and Morg and Lainey,
02:38 and they've been making some serious noise in the world
02:43 and that's awesome.
02:46 That's nothing but good for the rest of us, you know.
02:50 It's, it never wasn't cool, you know.
02:55 But yeah, everybody, sure I've seen a lot of people
03:00 that just want to throw on a cowboy hat twice a year.
03:02 And you know, you look at the sweat stains in this one,
03:05 it ain't a twice a year hat, you know.
03:07 It's, yeah, I mean, it's fitting, I guess,
03:14 but I'm just happy to be playing shows with her.
03:18 - Right, totally.
03:19 And then when you think about tonight,
03:21 all of the people that will be here,
03:22 do you have some friends that you're excited to bump into?
03:25 - I saw Mitch and Meg, the Tenpenny's, I saw them.
03:32 I think Humphrey's right behind me.
03:34 Might run into Lainey.
03:38 I saw Jelly walking out in the parking lot.
03:42 He and I walked out of BMI at the same time last night.
03:46 - Yeah.
03:47 - But yeah, I mean, oh, Mack and, Mack McAnally and Kenny.
03:53 - Yes.
03:54 - That's gonna be one to watch tonight.
03:57 I'm excited for that.
03:58 That's gonna be really good.
03:59 - A tribute.
04:00 - Yeah, that's gonna be real good.
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