In today’s world, country music fans are spread far and wide. And while it may be hard to believe, there’s a traditional New Zealand tribe somewhere out there in the world that has probably jammed out to Jason Aldean’s discography.
The 30+ number one hit maker recently returned to the songwriter-led Try That In A Small Town Podcast to discuss this feat in his career and the surprise Nashville celebration, as well as share some of his best memories from his career. Surrounded by some of his bandmates, Aldean detailed his first visit to New Zealand this past February, where they took part in a full-blown tribal welcome ceremony.
The night before the first show of their string of New Zealand and Australia dates, they were inducted into the country at a very serious ceremony hosted by the Māori tribe. They were all instructed to approach this moment with the utmost respect, no phones, no hats, no laughing, to which Aldean notes, “we’re intrigued at this point, like kind of scared, like what the hell is happening.”
Aldean says they went into the ceremony (alongside probably 50-plus members of his team) completely naive to the whole process, at which they were greeted on the loading dock by about 5 men and 4 women dressed in full tribal garb with tattoos, face paint, and spears. The “Night Train” singer alluded to the whole experience by saying, ” Imagine…Christopher Columbus rolling up, and he was met by the local tribe, and they’re standing on the beach like waiting for him and looking like they’re probably gonna kill him.”
So filled with a mix of fear, curiosity, and amazement, the band is taking in all of the culturally rich customs full of intense singing and dancing. At the end, Aldean shares, “the guy all of a sudden starts speaking in English, and we’re like, ‘Oh? You speak English, too.'”
To which then, unexpectedly, the head leader looks at Aldean and the rest of the crew and offers, “Do you guys wanna sing a song for us?” to which he very honestly adds, “In my mind I’m thinking not really, you know, wasn’t really prepared for this. Do I borrow his guitar and play like ‘Big Green Tractor’, like what does he want us to do?”
It caught everyone in the room completely off guard, leading to about 15 seconds of awkward silence. Honestly, what song would you even sing in that situation?
As Aldean recalls, it was one of those “oh sh**” moments where everyone was quietly weighing their next move. Then, out of nowhere, someone behind him hilariously pipes up with, “Why don’t we sing the national anthem?” For starters, the national anthem is notoriously difficult to sing. And in hindsight, it felt like a pretty wild choice to follow such a highly traditional performance. Cringing at the memory, Aldean admits, “In my mind, I’m like I love the national anthem, but it’s like, is that cool to do?”
With the room erupting in laughter, he continues, “We kicked it off, dude, and we just sang the national anthem, and I just remember the whole time going, these guys are gonna go back to their tribe and be like ‘These f****** guys, you’re never gonna believe what they did.” He added, “I just don’t think that was the right spot to sing that.”
While, unfortunately, no one has any recorded memories from the terribly awkward encounter, Aldean did note that he was left with an Eskimo kiss from the tribal leader, who instructed him to rub noses after their meeting. “Bro, I was so close to that guy that I feel like I’m a part of the tribe now.”
This summer round, Aldean is keeping his tour stateside with 22 stops across America on his 2026 Songs About Us Tour. The Georgia native will kick things off on July 16 in Bangor, Maine, and wrap things up in late September in Gilford, New Hampshire.
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Tour Dates:
- Thu July 16 – Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheater^
- Fri July 17 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center^
- Sat July 18 – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts^
- Thu July 23 – Wichita, KS – INTRUST Bank Arena^
- Fri July 24 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center^
- Sat July 25 – Kansas City, MO – Morton Amphitheater^
- Thu July 30 – Ridgefield, WA – Cascades Amphitheater^
- Fri July 31 – Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater^
- Fri Aug 14 – Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheatre^
- Sat Aug 15 – Fresno, CA – Save Mart Center at Fresno State^
- Sat Aug 22 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center#%
- Thu Aug 27 – Bossier City, LA – Brookshire Grocery Arena^
- Fri Aug 28 – Brandon, MS – Brandon Amphitheater^
- Sat Aug 29 – Orange Beach, AL – The Wharf Amphitheater^
- Thu Sep 10 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach^
- Fri Sep 11 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater^
- Sat Sep 12 – Hartford, CT – The Meadows Music Theatre^
- Thu Sep 17 – Hamilton, ON – TD Coliseum^
- Fri Sep 18 – Syracuse, NY – Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview^
- Sat Sep 19 – Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion^
- Fri Sep 25 – Gilford, NH – BankNH Pavilion^
- Sat Sep 26 – Gilford, NH – BankNH Pavilion^
- ^ with Chase Matthew, Mackenzie Carpenter and Dee Jay Silver
- # with Chase Matthew and Dee Jay Silver
- % with Elizabeth Nichols