Aaron Simmons sings about Wadena. He’ll perform at the June Jubilee Country Concert.

Aaron Simmons’ country song “Nobody’s Home in Wadena” hits close to home.

“I worked a summer job in Wadena in the summer of 2016. And that was kind of the start of the whole story of the ‘Nobody's Home in Wadena’ song,” he said. ”I lived in a camper at Sunnybrook Park for three months … and that summer is when I kind of fell in love with Wadena.”

The Stewartville native’s parents Dan and Teri Simmons are Wadena High School graduates. And the 28-year-old spent his formative years working summers in Wadena.

“Stewartville is a town just south of Rochester – about 6,000 people – really not that dissimilar to Wadena,” Simmons said. “But with Stewartville — being born and raised there – I'm very, very proud of where I come from and my roots .. that kind of made me who I am.”

Simmons will headline the inaugural June Jubilee Country Concert on June 9 at Burlington Northern Park. The Nashville resident included the first June Jubilee concert as part of his tour.

“As an artist, I've always gravitated towards country music. … For me, it's always been the storytelling. … And for me, my story comes from small towns, it comes from hard work, it comes from being kind to your neighbors. It comes from so much of those small-town aspects," he said.

Simmons released his debut album, “Third St. SW,” independently in 2020. The record peaked at No. 5 on the iTunes Country Albums Chart, according to his biography, and its second single, “That’s My Hometown,” played more than 100,000 times across various platforms.

“That's still country music when I can still talk about friendship and I can talk about family in my hometown and love and loss and all of these things that I have experienced … kind of blend into the artistry that I can tell stories that are very rooted in where I come from,” Simmons said.

He graduated from Minnesota State University Moorhead with a degree in multimedia journalism before he took the world of country music in Minnesota by storm.

“I've been doing video storytelling for much of my life and it's just the storytelling aspect of music is kind of what gravitated toward me to that," said Simmons, who was editor-in-chief of the university’s student-run, award-winning newspaper The Advocate.

Simmons’ storytelling has paid off. He was nominated in three categories at this year’s Midwest Country Music Organization awards: Song of the Year (“Nobody’s Home in Wadena”), Video of the Year (“Nobody’s Home in Wadena”) and Male Vocalist of the Year

“So I come back to the Midwest every two to three months to play a run of acoustic shows, to visit family,” said Simmons, who lives in Nashville. “My parents have a cabin in Otter Tail County, … and I'm able to come into Wadena and see my mom's parents and visit them.”

Simmons was also nominated for New Artist of the Year in 2021 by the Midwest Country Music Organization, and “Nobody’s Home in Wadena” held the No. 1 position on Spotify's Local Pulse: Minneapolis chart for two consecutive weeks in August 2022, according to his biography.

“The amount of comments that I've gotten from folks over the last year about this song, and how it reminds them of the relationship with their grandparents or their parents who have passed on, it's been an experience that I can't describe. … It's just so special. It's so wonderful,” he said.

Simmons has lived in Nashville since 2021 and, according to his biography, is influenced by other musicians such as Garth Brooks, Brett Eldredge, the Brothers Osborne and Tenille Townes. But he still recalls his time in Wadena fondly.

“It was one of my favorite summers and one of my favorite times in my life was living in Wadena in that camper. It was like my first taste of independence,” Simmons recalled. “I was really starting to cut my teeth in music as well. I was starting to write my own songs.”

Simmons has opened for Scotty McCreery, Parmalee, Restless Road and Kat & Alex, and performed the national anthem last year at We Fest in Detroit Lakes, according to his biography.

“But living in Wadena and going to the Boondocks (Cafe) and going to The Uptown and playing Frisbee golf – it was one of I think my most formative summers,” Simmons said of the summer of 2016.

The June Jubilee Country Concert will take place at Burlington Northern Park. The Wadena Area Chamber of Commerce and Superstation K106 helped make it happen and it is presented by Becker Transport & Aggregate. Tickets for Simmons’ show are $10.

“We're just extremely excited to be a part of this,’ Simmons said. “I grew up in Stewartville but I really feel like Wadena is another home for me, especially with my family being from there. We're just really looking forward to that night and spending time in town and seeing people.”

• Who: Singer-songwriter Aaron Simmons.
• What: Inaugural June Jubilee Country Concert.
• When:  8 p.m. Friday, June 9.
• Where: Burlington Northern Park in downtown Wadena.
• Cost: $10 per person. (Bring your own lawn chair.).
• Ticket info: https://bit.ly/42Hml9A . 

FRANK LEE is the features writer for the Wadena Pioneer Journal. He may be reached at 218-631-6470 or at flee@wadenapj.com .