When Jason Aldean and his family previewed his new exhibit at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on Thursday (May 25), his children were getting their first impressions of their father's life before "Hicktown" broke out in 2005.

After getting a private tour with his family, Aldean delivered a few remarks in the Rotunda and said that for any artist, to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame in any capacity is an honor.

"It's pretty amazing," he said, "I think being able to come here today and walk through with my wife, my daughters, my parents and go back and look at things that I haven't seen in a while. Some things I haven't seen in a long time.

"For my kids, they don't know anything other than this. But to go back and see that it always wasn't like this, I think was probably kind of cool for them. And so it's been an amazing ride for me."

He went on to thank a few key people on Music Row who believed in his music from the start, including his longtime producer Michael Knox. He discovered Aldean at an Atlanta club and brought him to Nashville 20 years ago.

"For things early in my career to be a struggle and to not come easy," Aldean said, "it made me appreciate things a lot more when it finally did happen. And the reason it did happen was because I tried to surround myself with a great group of people."

On display now through Nov. 5, Jason Aldean: Asphalt Cowboy features personal memorabilia and keepsakes from his days as a rising musician, including a Young Guns set list, his high school graduation photo, his first guitar and much more.