Jackson Michelson respectfully refers to himself as a “baby act,” the newbie with little name recognition opening for the larger-than-life superstar.
“I love it,” the 27-year-old Corvallis, Oregon, native said last month from Nashville. “I get to see new faces every night, and the response has been cool so far. I just can’t wait to get the first single out on the radio and go from there.”
The first single could be out before he hits the stage at Country Thunder around 5 p.m. Thursday, April 6. It comes roughly 18 months after he signed his major-label record deal with Curb and nearly a year since he released his eponymous, six-song EP last June.
“It’s in that fun stage of everyone being excited about the music and finishing up the whole album and we’re getting ready to pick some singles,” Michelson said of the process of getting his debut album from the studio to the store.
“Jackson Michelson” the EP launched the artist into a different realm, introducing him to people who had not seen him during the five years or so that he played as many as 200 shows a year up and down the West Coast.
With the record deal, he entered the world of “baby act,” signing on to open for Lady Antebellum, Lee Brice and, once, for Willie Nelson — an experience he calls life-altering given his lifetime admiration for the country music legend.
But it was opening for Blake Shelton in 2015 that really opened his eyes to the possibilities of what could be once the pieces of his career start falling into place.
“It was sold out ... and I got to go out there and play for an hour,” he recalled. “I had so much fun. I didn’t bring enough merchandise. I sold out about 200 CDs in 15 minutes. It was a crazy experience to see someone at that level and be able to share the stage with him. And he is so gracious. Every time I talk to Blake, he is so supportive and very nice. It was a pretty awesome opportunity for me.”
“Music connects people, and I felt strangely connected to 25,000 people at one time,” he added. “I think it’s the music that does that, and I think that’s the one thing in the world that is a uniter when things are trying to pull us apart.”
