No Shoes, no problem for this "Barefoot" superstar (Created May 29, 2013)

When has falling down led to a rising star so quickly in country music? If the case study is Jake Owen, let's just say that more wannabes are sure to be out looking for the next big ocean swell to knock them off their feet.

Though the roots of this long-haired, slim-downed, tattooed Adonis are anything but 'country,' you can't look at Owen and not picture him ripping up the sand and the surf as a youngster. And raised in the coastal town of Vero Beach, Florida, he had the chance to do just that. But music didn't become his true focus until he suffered a severe shoulder injury while wake boarding, leaving guitar playing as one of the few hobbies he could safely partake in.

Owen often talks about that wipeout as the wake-up call to what he was supposed to be doing, and
he soon took up residence at the many Honkey tonks and bars that are a right of passage to any Nashville-bound musician. Not long after he made it to Music City came major league success, thanks to 2006's "Startin' with Me," 2008's "Don't Think I Can't Love You," and 2009's "Eight Second Ride." His collaboration on "Life in a Northern Town" (with Sugarland and Little Big Town) in 2008 earned him both Grammy and CMA Award nominations. And a year later Owen was named Top New Male Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music.

Owen's latest album, "Barefoot Blue Jean Night" has put him in the same category as the Kenny Chesneys of country music. The title track became the biggest hit of Owens career to date, with other singles like "Anywhere with You" and "The One That Go Away" climbing the charts just as quickly. Indeed, it's easy to see that Jake Owen is definitely "Settin' the World on Fire."