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Funny how sometimes the things a person most fiercely resists later become the very things they embrace most completely. That's certainly the case with Jason Mitchell, a dynamic young country singer whose music business childhood left him convinced he wanted nothing to do with being a performer.
"I was born in Nashville and grew up a total studio rat," Jason explains. "My dad, Dan Mitchell, is a producer and songwriter ("If You're Gonna Play In Texas (You Gotta Have A Fiddle In The Band") and mom made stage clothes for a bunch of stars."
Dan Mitchell, working out of the famed Burns Station Sound, kept the late night hours common to the recording industry. "Dad used to say, 'Well, I'm headed out to Burns,'" Jason recalls. "I thought Burns was a person and I hated that guy."
Jason moved to Ohio in grade school and developed interest in soccer, martial arts and just about anything besides making music. "I loved music, but I wanted to listen to it, and that's it," he says. Two events in a two-year period changed his course forever.
Days short of his 18th birthday, Jason was in an accident and caught fire from his waist to his head. "I had first and second degree burns to my face and spent 10 hours in ICU," he says. "I remember leaving the hospital later and driving across a bridge. I saw a big church and just started praying for healing and promising to give it back to God."
He did heal, in half the time the doctors predicted, and went on to college. While attending classes he learned that his father suffered a massive heart attack. "He called me after he was in the clear and asked me what I was going to do with the rest of my life," Jason recalls. "And I had no idea. He said he'd almost died once, and I had, too. And then he said I might want to start figuring it so I don't spend my life wandering."
At the time the elder Mitchell was directing the entertainment at a local tourist attraction. "A couple months later I was sitting in economics class and got a text from him that said, 'Heading to auditions, see you later,'" Jason says. He looked up from his phone to see the students around him and the Japanese teacher whose English he could barely understand and made a decision. "I picked up my books, walked out of the class, went to the audition and made the cast," he says. "Dad was like, 'I had no idea you sang.' I was there for the next four years."
Performing six shows a day and as many as 1,300 in one season, Jason poured himself into music. "I only knew two songs at first: 'My Girl' and 'I Miss My Friend.'" He learned quickly, however, and soon produced his own CD, selling 1,000 copies in a just a few months. And a strong work ethic, the one he'd seen in his father, took over.
Jason began performing anywhere that would have him, working on his music and developing as an artist to the point he was signed by legendary Nashville manager Dale Morris. And he's giving back, as promised. A foundation he started has already raised $25,000 for the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Burn Center.
His debut single, "I'm Your Chicken Man," shows Jason's playful side, while songs like "Slow And Steady" smolder with passion. Going after fans one-by-one at each and every show, Jason Mitchell is as committed to his career as he once was opposed to the idea. And he's a quick study.
"I saw so many artists my dad worked with squander their opportunity," he says. "I'm not comfortable going to sleep at night thinking there's somebody out there working harder than I am."
