Evan Paul hosts Taste of Country Nights, On Demand, a weekly country music interview podcast that focuses on the music. Follow wherever podcasts are found, like Apple Podcasts and Spotify and leave a rating and review. ​​​​​​​​​​​This show is part of the Townsquare Media On Demand network.

I have had the pleasure of interviewing Jimmie Allen a few times, and he never disappoints. He always leaves me with a smile and some good stories.

He just released his latest album, Tulip Drive, and it is really an amazing piece of art. He has so many different styles and genres on it. There are true country power songs, and there are also some genre-bending collaborations. He has collaborations on this album with CeeLo Green, T-Pain and Jennifer Lopez — I really wanted to ask him about this J.Lo collaboration. It's called "On My Way," and it's a remake of her song from the Marry Me album.

I was wondering if he, like all of us guys our age, had a crush on J.Lo growing up, and if it was weird or cool to be on a song with her now. His response kind of shocked me in a sense that it wasn't what I was expecting him to say. You can hear it when you check out Taste of Country Nights, On Demand Ep. 41: Jimmie Allen.

The specific question I ask is, "What would 15-year-old Jimmie say if he was told he was going to record a song with J.Lo?"

"He'd say, 'I believe it.'" Jimmie says. "Because my mentality and kind of how my parents raised me ... you shouldn't be surprised when you end up the places you've prepared and put the work in to go. Think about this: No one works hard to fail. When you put the work in, you're expecting to be successful."

"I'm still thankful. I'm full of gratitude. When someone works hard to go to school and get straight As, and they get straight As, they're not surprised they got straight As because they know the work they put in to get straight As. That's the same way I look at my career."

For the record, he did fall in love with Lopez at a young age, but it was because of this song, which we talk about a few minutes into the conversation.

https://youtu.be/Sjx9oSJDAVQ

Jimmie was also telling me about a song on this album about his son that he almost didn't put on the album, because it's so personal. It's the very first thing we talk about, and when I asked him if his son has heard it and what his thoughts on it were, Jimmie's reply had me in tears laughing.

I always feel at ease when Jimmie comes in. He knows I'm a shoe guy, as he is, so we always check out each other's shoes for the day, then by the time the interview starts, we both realize we have basically been doing the interview already, just a real conversation.

Check out this and all of my interviews with country music's biggest superstars wherever you listen to your podcasts, just search for Taste of Country Nights, On Demand.

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