Jake Owen kicked off his career with a string of hits from his debut album, Startin’ with Me…and fans are clearly getting excited about Jake’s new album in the works and its first single, “Don’t Think I Can’t Love You.” It’s the most popular new record on country radio this week, and you better believe that’s exciting for Jake…and his family. He remembers — like so many of us — that conversation when you tell your parents what you want to do with your life…and maybe it wasn’t the path you’d been traveling. For Jake, golf was a huge part of his life, but when music called, he knew what he had to do. He remembers being in Florida and saying to his parents, “My gut instinct is tellin’ me I need to go to Nashville, and I just feel like I’m not gonna further my career any down here unless I get up there.” And when he shared what he was thinking and how he felt, the support was immediate. His dad just told him, “I’m totally behind you. You go do it, man.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

• Be on the lookout for the digital single for “Don’t Think I Can’t Love You” — it’ll be at your favorite online music provider this Tuesday!
• Also, don’t miss Jake hosting the five Nashville Nights webisodes on ABC.com, all part of the excitement leading up to ABC’s September 8 airing of the all-new CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock (9pm, ET).

  Jake Owen recalls telling his parents that he was ready to focus on music and move to Nashville. (:40)
“It was something different, but at the same time, I was still just as devoted to that as I was golf, so when my dad, when it came time for…I’ll never forget it…that I called my parents on the phone and said, ‘I’ve thought a lot about this. I’ve kind of played five nights a week up here, music, and I just think that I need to move to Nashville. My heart’s tellin’ me that, my gut instinct is tellin’ me I need to go to Nashville, and I just feel like I’m not gonna further my career any down here unless I get up there.’ And just the pure fact that I had enough courage and goals and worked that hard already, my dad didn’t even hesitate. He just said, he’s like, ‘I’m totally behind you.’ He’s like, ‘You go do it, man.'”