I know many Hawk listeners who saw Jake Owen for the first time, earlier this summer as he headlined our Taste of Country Music Festival at Hunter Mountain.  He made a lot of new friends that day.  This weekend, you'll get a chance to know Jake even better when he co-hosts Country Countdown USA, Sunday night 7-10pm on 98.1 The Hawk.

We caught Jake Owen a few days after he played Ford Field in Detroit with Kenny Chesney & Miranda Lambert, and he described the atmosphere to Lon Helton: "There was something in the air that day, and let's be honest, when Kenny Chesney comes to town, he brings the sunshine and happiness, which is why I try to do the same thing on the road I've learned from him.  But I think Detroit's back.  Plus Kid Rock showed up, and that was pretty amazing."  Jake also played with KR at Hunter Mountain.

Jake has become a regular at the annual Pebble Beach Pro-Am Golf Tournament.  He even gets to perform during the TV coverage. You;ll find out more about that and some fishing stories as he's just returned from a fishing trip with Dierks Bentley.

On the subject of Peyton Manning, Jake also told Lon he got a pretty exclusive invite: "I've known Peyton for a long time thanks to Kenny Chesney.  Believe it or not, he invited me to his retirement party."  Peyton got up and sang Johnny Cash.  "It was a great party.  It was awesome."

This week, Jon Pardi got his first #1 with "Head Over Boots."  Lon & Jake gave Jon a call to congratulate him.  Jake also has great stories this week about Miranda Lambert, Old Dominion, William Michael Morgan, Jason Aldean, and Tucker Beathard.

Listen for Jake Owen on Country Countdown USA, Sunday night 7-10pm on 98.1 The Hawk, listen live at 981TheHawk.com or with the FREE Hawk App RadioPup, available in your Apple ITunes App Store, Google Play or download it HERE.

More From 98.1 The Hawk