Jason Aldean realized exactly how much he's impacting the landscape of country music when he was mentioned by a country legend. Garth Brooks recently complimented the 'Burnin' It Down' singer in a press conference, and Aldean was understandably shocked!

Aldean is currently on the charts alongside Brooks, which is something he never thought would happen. He grew up admiring the singer, and was in disbelief over his icon mentioning his name -- especially since he didn't even think Brooks knew who he was!

"For me, growing up and watching Garth’s career and how big he was and is, to sit here and even talk about competing with him is almost comical to me," an overly modest Aldean tells 100.3 the Bull. "I never in a million years thought that the guy would even know who I was, much less we’d be sitting and battling it out on the charts or whatever."

In a recent press conference, Brooks admitted to being a fan of Aldean, even praising his work in country music, saying the singer changed what country is now.

“Guys like Jason Aldean, who came out with what I call ‘muscle country,’ [the] poor guy came out and did it, and he was the only guy doing it -- and then everybody jumped on it,” Brooks explains. “Everybody tried to do that Jason thing. So he’s now in the point of trying to figure out how to reinvent himself. I wish him well with that, because the kid’s a good talent, and I’d like to see him around with some new music."

With both artists admiring one another's work, could a future collaboration be possible? While there are no talks of that right now, Aldean is -- of course --- hopeful.

“I think it’s cool that he’s back," the 'Big Green Tractor' hitmaker shares of Brooks. "I think it’d be cool to get to work with him, so hopefully at some point I’ll get the chance to do something with him.”

Aldean's brand new album, 'Old Boots, New Dirt,' is out Oct. 7.

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