Jason Aldean is in a very different place since he released his last album, 2014's Old Boots, New Dirt. For They Don't Know — out as of Sept. 9 — he kept the focus solely on the music, ignoring the hateful comments from those who continue to scrutinize his relationship with his wife, Brittany Kerr.

"People are very opinionated about things they're not really aware of," the singer tells People, "But at the same time I'm not going to spend all my time defending myself. I am what I am. People that know me or know my situation, they actually know."

"On this album, instead of focusing on all that other stuff that was going on for so long, everything is good and it made a world of difference for me," Aldean says. "Anytime you're in a place where you can relax and when you're happy, that's going to make everything else better."

Kerr spends a lot of time on the road with Aldean, although the singer admits their musical taste couldn't be more different.

"I'll play songs for her, but it's hard because she's not a fan of a lot of the stuff I'm a fan of," he says. "She's not big into rock music and that's one of my biggest influences. She doesn't get that whole side of it. She's more hip hop, R&B, pop stuff."

Aldean's was just revealed as the second headliner for next summer's Country Jam in Grand Junction, Colo. The "A Little More Summertime" singer joins previously-announced headliner Kenny Chesney for the music and camping festival, which will be held June 15-18. He will headline the 2017 Taste of Country Music Festival the previous weekend.

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