Loading ...
Aaron Tippin Nutrition – IN OVERDRIVE With Good Health
By: Michael Sudhalter
Aaron Tippin has built a reputation over the past two decades as a country music traditionalist, a songwriter with powerful messages, an avid outdoorsman and a patriotic entertainer who has traveled the globe to entertain U.S. Troops. He also holds a pilot’s license and has his own winery. In addition to music and his other hobbies, Tippin and his wife, Thea, have always been active in concentrating on a healthy lifestyle, highlighted by eating the right foods and exercising.
The couple recently decided to begin Aaron Tippin Nutrition (www.tippinnutrition.com) – with the motto, “Living Well For The Time of Your Life.” The new venture — started earlier this year — combines tips from the Tippins’ own healthy lifestyle along with nutritional vitamin supplements that can be purchased on the website. The website also features Aaron’s own “tips” on personal health.
Tippin, who will celebrate his 20th year as a recording artist next year, has notched three No. 1 hits and has consistently been a Nashville hitmaker. “It’s been great,” Tippin said. “I’m thankful to be out here and doing music. A lot of guys came out of my flight that aren’t here anymore.”
So why the decision to step into the field of promoting good health?
“I’ve been in the music business, and I’m kind of a workout guy,” Tippin said. “People always ask me how I stay in shape; so I thought it might be time to introduce something new about Aaron Tippin and share what I’ve learned over the years. This isn’t really a new field for me, just a different outlet to voice what I’ve learned about working out and nutrition. We created this lifestyle website to encourage and give folks an insight as to how they can make a change, even the slightest, to enable them to live longer and healthier.”
Tippin first became interested in healthy lifestyles when he started working out at the gym in his twenties. The hobby grew into a passion and he became a successful bodybuilder. “Getting into bodybuilding told me you could change your body,” Tippin said. “It only takes losing a few pounds to be inspired to lose a few more.” Bodybuilding and country music have been twin passions for Tippin during much of the past quarter-century.
“Both are great personal outlets for me--to share my music with folks, and then with the fitness initiative and work-out regimen. It helps me get the “bugs” out,” Tippin said. “Whether it’s a message in a song, or a personal message about living well, I’m really lucky to be able to reach people in both avenues to move them--move them with music or move them to get moving!”
Tippin, 51, was born in Pensacola, Fla. and grew up in the Appalachian foothills of northern South Carolina – where he was raised on “everything fried.” He credits Thea with “turning southern recipes around so they still taste great,” – such as using Olive Oil to replace lard. Tippin has also offered advice to fellow country artists regarding eating habits, exercising and nutritional supplements.
Tippin credits his healthy lifestyle with helping him continue to perform 100 dates per year of his high-energy country music show. “I think anybody that sees an Aaron Tippin show knows it’s not a stand behind the microphone toe-tapping kind of show,” he said.
Tippin has always recorded songs – powerful and patriotic – that display the feelings of millions of Americans. His debut single, “You’ve Got To Stand For Something,” in 1990, was about standing up for what’s right – regardless of how popular it is at the time; that tune symbolized America’s resolve during the Gulf War that was going on at the time.
Eleven years later, Tippin recorded “Where The Stars and Stripes and The Eagle Fly” in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001; the track re-emphasized national pride in the United States at a time of tragedy and American heroism.
Instead of simply writing and recording patriotic songs, Tippin has committed himself to perform in 49 of the 50 states and has taken his music to wherever U.S. Troops are stationed – from bases within the U.S. to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I feel like I have an obligation to go see our American brothers and sisters who sacrifice their lives everyday,” Tippin said. “They’re important to me--over there doing my bidding. I want to show my appreciation. They’re always a very excited and weloming crowd and always so happy to see us. We bring a little piece of home to them.”
He talks to the military personnel and listens to their experiences. “There’s just tons of stories,” Tippin said. “I’ve heard about soldiers away from their wives who are having their first child, guys that just got back from burying their father, moms who are separated from their kids. It’s pretty heart-wrenching.”
Touring stateside becomes a Tippin family event with Thea singing backup vocals and the couple’s sons, Teddy and Thomas, attending shows and joining their parents on-stage from time to time.
While Aaron Tippin loves touring, he also enjoys his time in the studio. Tippin’s latest album, released last February, is called IN OVERDRIVE and it’s a dream come true for those longing for the days when country artists wrote truck driving songs. The album includes covers of classics like Jerry Reed’s “East Bound and Down” and Dave Dudley’s “Six Days On The Road.”
Given Tippin’s rural roots, country music seemed like a natural career path, but he didn’t enjoy the music he now records until his teenage years when he discovered a Hank Williams Sr. album. Growing up, he had originally planned on becoming a pilot but said that the energy crunch of the 1970’s stopped him from chasing that dream. “Becoming a country singer was totally out of left field for me, but I’m thankful it happened,” Tippin said. In the mid-1980’s, he moved to Nashville and wrote songs for several artists while working in a mill to pay his bills.
His music has ranged from love songs to honky-tonk anthems and patriotic ballads, but the common thread has always been a traditional country sound laced with lots of fiddles and steel guitar.
“The elements of what makes a song great have been a part of country music from the start: a great riff, a great story and a solid voice,” Tippin said. “I have tried to create music that highlights all three; I still try to write and record music that speaks to folks on their level. Everything I’ve ever recorded I would put out again, and that is how I gauge how much I’ve changed since my start in the business and something I’m very proud of.”
He said the Nashville establishment fluctuates between favoring that type of music and a more pop-country sound. “It goes back and forth,” Tippin added. “It was very pop before Randy Travis came along and turned a new corner. You never can tell what’s going to happen in country music.”
Between traveling and working on his farm, Tippin said he doesn’t have much time to listen to music but he enjoys several Nashville newcomers.
“There are a number of artists right now that have deep roots in the traditional country and I am excited to see that,” Tippin said. “ Blake Shelton, James Otto and Joe Nichols all have that grit and common outlaw thread in their songs. Knowing where the music comes from is a great way to take it to where it’s going.”
Tippin said that the Internet has changed all music – including country – since he arrived two decades ago and music was sold on cassette tapes.
“As technology evolves, how we reach our fans has changed, but the connection between the song and the listener remains the same; it’s gotta touch folks--either to bring them to their feet or to tears,” he said.
In 2007, he worked with digitalrodeo.com, a country music social networking site to promote independent country music artists. Tippin hopes to continue making traditional country music while pursuing his varied his interests as flying, winemaking and the new Aaron Tippin Nutrition company.
“I’ve tried to live my life with integrity, passion and a smile--and loving, and being loved by, my family, friends and fans,” Tippin said. “That’s what it’s all about; I think that’s something I can continue for the long haul.”
Tippin said he would like to have the musical longevity of an artist like Charlie Daniels.
“I just let the music go where it’s going to go, be where it’s going to be and hang on for the ride,” he said. “Let’s pray for 20 more years (in the business), how about that? I would love it; that would be great. I could be like Charlie Daniels.”
Tags: aaron tippin, aaron tippin nutrition, country music, healthy lifestyle, in overdrive, kiss this, where the stars and stripes and the eagles fly
