Jake Owen was one of the architects of bro country, churning out radio smashes like “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” and “The One That Got Away.” But on his new album of outlaw country songs, Dreams to Dream, he all but buries his party-friendly persona.
“A lot of my music, as an artist, has had a big fucking curtain right in front of it. It’s like fantasyland. There’s not been a lot of full honesty. And those songs worked for me, and they work for a lot of people,” Owen tells Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast in a vulnerable, remarkably emotional interview.
“My favorite artists of all time, whether it be Hank Williams Jr., Merle Haggard, Waylon, all their songs that were the most honest and let you behind the curtain is why you loved them as an artist,” he continues. “The truth in this album was in addressing my feelings.”
Owen teamed up with Grammy-winning producer Shooter Jennings to record Dreams to Dream and says they bonded over Hank Williams Jr. One particular song by Bocephus spoke to him. In reciting the lyrics to “Feelin’ Better,” off 1977’s The New South — “had to get high so I wouldn’t cry/you know they hit pretty close to home” — Owen breaks down.
“Every time I say this I well up inside,” Owen says through fits of tears. “If it didn’t feel this way, I would just be able to wipe it away and keep rocking down this story. But it does hurt, man.”
Trending Stories
Watch our full interview with Jake Owen below.
Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone’s weekly country-music podcast, Nashville Now, hosted by senior music editor Joseph Hudak, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). New episodes drop every Wednesday and feature interviews with artists and personalities like Lainey Wilson, Hardy, Charley Crockett, Gavin Adcock, Amanda Shires, Shooter Jennings, Margo Price, Kings of Leon, Ink, Halestorm, Dusty Slay, Lukas Nelson, Ashley Monroe, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor, and Clever.
