Talent Inquiry

“Working Man’s Ph.D.” isn’t just one of Aaron Tippin’s many hits. It is a degree he has earned and bears with pride. From swinging a “Ten Pound Hammer” to “drivin’ a truck”, you better believe, Aaron Tippin has done it. Born in Pensacola, Florida and raised in rural South Carolina, Aaron started singing as a way to pass the time while plowing and running the combine on his family’s farm. But learning to fly and working on airplanes almost took him to heights in a career other than music. With his heart set on becoming an airline pilot, Aaron flew as a free lance and corporate pilot, with Bob Hope among his many passengers. Fortunately for country music fans, a fuel shortage hit. With major carriers furloughing pilots, Aaron realized his chances of becoming a pilot with a major airline were slim. He began playing honky-tonks and biker bars, and got more than just his trade-mark tattoo. In 1986, he got the bug to go to Nashville. But Nashville wasn’t handing out record deals left and right. Aaron landed a job as a staff writer for the prestigious music publisher Acuff Rose. While he polished his songwriting skills, he sang on demos, hoping a major artist would cut one of his songs. More than just his songs caught the attention of RCA–his unique voice did as well. In 1990, RCA released “You’ve Got to Stand For Something”, written by Aaron, and hometown friend, Buddy Brock. Based on wisdom passed down from their fathers, the song became an anthem for a nation embroiled in the conflict of Desert Storm. Bob Hope, remembering Aaron from his days as a commercial pilot, recruited Aaron for his tour of the Persian Gulf. For American troops fighting the Gulf War, “You’ve Got to Stand For Something” embodied their very reasons for being there. From there, Aaron continued to write and sing about what he knew the most about–strong country traditions and hard work. The theme of the common working man runs throughout Aaron’s list of hits–from “I Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way” off his second RCA release, Read Between the Lines, to “Honky-Tonk Superman” and “Working Man’s Ph.D.,” from his platinum-selling album, Call of the Wild, to “I Got It Honest” and “Country Boy’s Tool Box”, from the album Looking Back At Myself. With his latest album, Tool Box, Aaron continues to pay homage to his roots. But starting with Looking Back at Myself a softer side of Aaron Tippin began to emerge–due in large part because he was in love. On July 15, 1995, Aaron married Thea Corontzos, whom he met when Thea worked for Reba McEntire’s Starstruck Entertainment. During his breaks between touring and recording, Aaron and Thea built their dream home–a cabin in Doweltown, Tennessee. Once again, true to the things he writes and sings about, he and Thea did most of the work themselves. Aaron Tippin may not be streaking through the skies as a pilot for a major airline, but he has certainly earned his place among the stars of country music.