As his career has continued to flourish, with hit singles and albums, awards and tours, Jake Owen says that folks in his Florida hometown of Vero Beach haven’t really changed in the way they treat him…if anything, he says, “they’re really proud for me.” And Jake feels the same way toward them, taking pride in his hometown and the kind of people who not only supported him, but who also do the same for one another every day, with a genuine sense of community. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

• And you can be mighty sure Jake’s hometown was cheering for him when he recently won the ACM Award for Top New Male Vocalist! Jake’s now in the running for the overall Top New Artist honor. Fan voting — and hometown voting! — for Top New Artist is underway now at VoteACM.com and continues right up until the start of The 44th Annual ACM Awards telecast, live from Las Vegas, on Sunday, April 5th, at 8pm, ET (tape delayed PT), on CBS!
• Jake is currently racing up the radio charts with his smash, “Don’t Think I Can’t Love You” — the first big hit from his new album, Easy Does It.

  Jake Owen says that his hometown is full of giving people. (:32)
“When I go home, people still are the same, I mean, I think if anything, they’re really proud for me. And I’m proud to go home. I’m proud to go see the people that helped me be the person that I am today. It’s really neat. I have an amazing community in my hometown of people that are really supportive of others. And we do a charity event every December for kids and after-school programs we raise money for, and everybody comes out. And we’ve raised quite a bit of money for the kids in our counties.”