Jason Aldean may not play the Grand Ole Opry as often as he'd like these days, but he says the famous circle on the stage still carries a lot of emotional weight for younger country performers.

"Anytime you're up there on that stage and you're in that circle, you start thinking about everybody that's been there," Aldean told Radio.com. "You never know, at some point that will probably be home to a lot of us where we'll be playing there a lot."

Aldean, Thomas Rhett , Chase Rice and Brandy Clark were among those talking about how the Opry provides a sense of community for country music artists of all ages.

"A lot of times, you go in there, and you end up meeting guys and having these conversations with them that you're like, 'Wow. I never met that guy before, but what a cool dude. I know a lot of his music,'" Aldean said. "You go and you never know who is going to be there that night or who you're going to run into backstage."

Plus, the way he describes his own performances at the Opry, it sounds like there's more freedom and less perfection. And that's just how he likes it.

"A lot of times, awards shows and all that stuff, you go in and sound check, and everybody wants it perfect," he said. "The Opry is still like a jam session. You go in and plug in, and a lot of times for us onstage, it doesn't sound great. But it's what it is. It's how we all learned to play, and it's still same way that it's always been as far as that goes."