BAND SPOTLIGHT | Jason Sturgeon

Born and raised in Peterson, Ind., (pop. 3,500, salute!), Jason Sturgeon spent his youth in pastoral plenty, singing songs for his family, working rural, small-town jobs, listening to country and hard rock and riding quarter horses for competition. After completing college and finding work, Sturgeon reawakened the music dream, forming a successful hard-rocking, country cover band that opened for big stars and nearly won Kenny Chesney’s “Next Big Star” competition. Determined to pursue the muse, he headed for Nashville, but failed to make pertinent contacts. Upon returning to his hometown, Sturgeon received a call from Dane Clark, a member of John Mellencamp’s band, offering to produce a record for the Indiana native. Living only five miles from Mellencamp’s compound and playing similar style of music, Sturgeon felt he’d “found a musical family.” The completed album, called That’s Me, is chock full of homespun hits with titles like “The Simple Life” and “Endless Summer,” where country and rock combine in three-minute music tales of Midwestern rural life.