Jason Aldean Fires Up Hometown With Anticipation For New Music Video, ‘Gonna Know We Were Here’

Country superstar Jason Aldean showed up in his home town of Macon, Georgia, Tuesday night to film a music video for his new song, “Gonna Know We Were Here.”

Over 1,000 country fans lined up for a chance to get a part in the new video. However, some local business owners didn’t share the enthusiasm of Aldean’s visit, as they were more concerned about possible property damage.

In a report by 41NBC, approximately 1,200 people signed up for a chance to be in the Jason Aldean video, yet only 200 were picked. The scene being filmed required a crowd of people. However, the ones that weren’t picked stayed in the streets anyway, anticipating a glimpse of the country juggernaut.

Brittany Bledsoe was one of the lucky ones to be chosen and shared her excitement of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“So as soon as you hear Jason Aldean is going to be in Macon filming, I had to be here. Especially being a country girl, of course you have to be down here and in it. It’s kind of a dream to be in a music video.”

At 5 p.m. Tuesday, film crews shut down several streets, including Second Street and Cotton Avenue, as shooting began. The scene shot was that of a couple kissing on a rooftop with a Homecoming game pep rally in the background. The video included fireworks being shot off in the middle of Second Street.

Although Aldean chose downtown Macon as the locale of his video, some businesses near the scene weren’t so thrilled. Just before production started, some owners were concerned about possible damage to their properties because of an incident that happened earlier this year.

When the motion picture The 5th Wave was being produced back in January, pyrotechnic crews blew up a bus. The explosion rocked several nearby businesses, blowing out windows, causing a few fires as well as some structural damage. Ultimately, the production company paid to fix the damage.

The scene’s use of fireworks nearby made some business owners uneasy. The Golden Bough Book Store was one of the businesses damaged in the bus explosion, and co-owner Heatherly Wakefield didn’t like the idea.

“Those fireworks have to land somewhere. They’re going to be directed somewhere and as we know there were fires that started from The 5th Wave on rooftops. So I mean there is a bit of a concern that, you know, what’s going to happen?”

As reported by local station 13 WMAZ, the Jason Aldean video didn’t use the same kind of pyrotechnics as discharged during that film. “It will be on a much smaller scale than last time. It will be more like consumer grade fireworks and they will be nowhere near any of the buildings,” assured Macon Film Commission member Terrell Sandefur.

Justin Andrews, a local resident who works near where the fireworks were to be set off, didn’t seem worried.

“As long as we don’t have a big, huge bus explosion as the last one. I think it should be fine. I mean, it’s Macon, it’s heritage, there’s a lot of music here, so why not? So I don’t think it should be that big of a deal.”

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Aldean made other headlines by marrying American Idol contestant Brittany Kerr earlier this year.

Although the shooting of the music video caused some interruption to Macon Tuesday night, overall, the whole town was excited to see the famous homegrown boy and welcomed him home. “Gonna Know We Were Here” lived up to its name as the local residents and businesses knew, without a doubt, Jason Aldean was in town.

[Photo by Rick Diamond / Getty Images]