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The title of rising country star Jason Aldean's latest CD and its hit single, "Relentless," could also apply to the performer's touring schedule in the thick of county fair season.

"We've been doing [fairs] most of the summer, actually, and we'll keep doing them right until — and into — October," said Aldean from a phone probably not far from a grandstand somewhere.

Aldean is no stranger to traveling, though. "The first two years we were out — 2005-2006 — we did over 200 shows. We've scaled back a bit. We did maybe 175-180 last year. The first two years we hit it the most."

The way he sees it – the road gave him a hit, so it's only fair that he's hitting the road.

"Well, it's the fact that I've always wanted to do it," said the Macon, Ga. native. "When you have the opportunity to go out and do your thing, you don't want to take it for granted. I used to play [up to 100 shows a year]. So it's the same thing I've always done. Before, I was only playing the Southeast. Now, I'm all over the country. But you just work so long and hard to get some success – when it finally happens, if you're lucky enough for it to happen, you want to do as much as you can to keep it."

On Friday, Aldean visits The Great Frederick Fair, joining a long list of predecessors who have graced its stage with their talents.

Listening to Aldean speak humbly of his career thus far — a whirlwind of success that has seen an Academy of Country Music Award for Top New Male Vocalist and a platinum self-titled debut album — it is plain to see that this is a young man who is in it for the long haul.

Striking a chord

"My father played the guitar well enough that I think he could play six chords really well. And I wanted to play with him, so he would graph them out for me. To this day, there are a lot of chords I don't know. I kind of learned by ear. That's probably not the best way, but for me it was the way."

B-I-N-G-O!

"The first time I got on stage was at the VFW [in Macon, Ga.] My mom and aunt went there to play bingo. It was one of those VFW's with a bar and a bingo room … and they had a band. My mom knew a couple of guys in the band there. So she said, ‘Can my kid come in and play a couple songs?' They agreed and that's how I got my feet wet. From there, I entered a talent contest in my hometown and it just kind of snowballed from there."

"I actually went back in 2006 for a homecoming show. It was an amazing thing to see it now. It looked huge at the time. It's really funny … Now it looks so small. A little stage in the corner with people's drinks sitting on it. But it's cool to go back and look at those things."

Inspiration

"My second daughter was born last year. She turned a year-old in August. When you become a parent, you have other reasons to want to be better at what you do, so you can hopefully give your children something to be proud of. It definitely took me from being a self-centered 21-year-old to being a parent. It changed my whole mindset … It made me look at the reasons I was doing the things I was doing, and whether they were the right things."

Trial by fire

"I went to Vegas to do the ‘Jonny Cash' video [for ‘Relentless']. While I was there, I got a call that the studio had caught on fire where the album was being kept. We were mixing it at the time – or my producer was. The drives were in the studio. It was pretty scary. The fire burned up everything but the control room where the drives were being kept. It was a big scare, but a lesson learned ... We would have had to go back to the drawing board. At the time, we had laid down all the music and vocals. So it was almost a done deal."

Going platinum

"I still say the best trophy is my platinum record. That's the ultimate for me. When over a million people go out and buy a copy of your CD – I'll take those over an award show-win any day. And not to knock awards at all. The ACM win helped to establish me early in my career, and I would love to have a couple more of them."

Life of the party

"We like to make it more of an event than a show. We want it to be an experience and we try to make it that way. We have fun. We've been doing this for a long time. And for a long time without a lot of people. Now that there are people there, we want to take advantage of that. We want to make sure that when we leave, they're hoping we come back soon. That's the ultimate goal."

Jason Aldean

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday

Where: The Great Frederick Fair, 797 E. Patrick St., Frederick

Tickets: $35 reserved track, $30 reserved grandstand

For information:

301-695-3928

www.thegreatfrederickfair.com