NORWICH – The Firefighters Field Days celebration will culminate Sunday evening with a performance by national recording artist and country singer/songwriter Jason Michael Carroll, who said he’s excited to spend his Fourth of July with local residents at the Chenango County Fairgrounds.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Carroll, whose band has been touring steadily for the last several months. “It’s always amazing to see the response we get and I’m very blessed for that to be the situation.”
Carroll’s music has been gaining in popularity ever since Arista Nashville released his debut album in 2006, “Waitin’ in the Country,” which produced three Billboard Hot Country Top 40 hits, “Alyssa Lies,” “Livin’ Our Love Song,” and “I Can Sleep When I’m Dead.”
The singer, who recently turned 32, said his earliest musical memories involved “walking around listening to my dad” as he tried to learn the guitar and listening to classic 80s rock-n-roll on the radio, until the day his parents decided to “take away all forms of music except gospel,” a musical genre he’s since learned to enjoy.
“I wasn’t allowed to listen to anything else at the time or I’d get in trouble,” stated Carroll, who added he now enjoys listening to just about anything, from Aerosmith to Tupac to Michael Jackson.
Everything changed in 2004 when Carroll’s mother secretly entered him into a local, American Idol-inspired vocal contest, which he went on to win. Unbeknownst to the country singer was the fact the New York City auditions he was awarded were for a group of rap labels.
“I got to see the Statue of Liberty at least,” laughed Carroll, who said the auditions did, however, open doors for him in the form of producer Don Gehman.
Gehman, known best for his work with superstars such as John Mellencamp, Blues Traveler, Hootie and the Blowfish and R.E.M., has now produced two Carroll albums, and the country singer said he considered him “instrumental to my current success.”
As to his limited downtime, Carroll said fans would probably be surprised to know he’s a bonafide “video game junkie” and an avid movie watcher who enjoys playing his Playstation 3 online with a variety of friends and family.
His favorite time while not on the road, however, is spent at home with his wife and four children, he said.
In February of 2010, Carroll parted ways with Arista Nashville and said since then he and his fellow bandmates have begun writing and recording songs for a new record, during what he considered “an interesting time our career.”
“We feel like it’s definitely going to open up a lot of doors for us and give us the attention we need to become one of the bigger names in country music,” said Carroll, who added he’s in the process of signing with a new label. “It’s exciting, but what’s really cool is that we’re still out there touring.”
Carroll stated he’s “starting to see a lot of new faces” at recent shows and wished to thank all the fans, who he called “extremely dedicated.”
“It’s the fans that make it worth it,” he added.
Performances will begin at 7 p.m. on July 4 at the Chenango County Fairground with opening acts Hailey and Shawn and Cassidy Lynn and Sundown. Jason Michael Carroll will follow at 8:30 p.m. and tickets are still available for $15 ($10 in advance) at the Norwich Fire Station, Service Pharmacy and Hayes Office Supplies. Those who purchase tickets for the concert will receive free admission to the Norwich Firefighters Field Days on Sunday. For more information call 1-800-838-3006 or visit www.norwichfirefighters.com.