As rising country star Brantley Gilbert says in one of his self-written songs, “Rock This Town,” it’s 10 o’clock, get ready to rock.

Jefferson, Ga., native Gilbert, who is only 24, will perform an all ages show at 10 p.m. Friday at Overtime Sports Bar, 1105 Sawmill Road. Tickets are $12.

On his debut album, “Modern Day Prodigal Son,” Gilbert discusses topics familiar to the country audience including Southern life, growing up in a small town, football, church and family.

A quick listen reveals another theme common in his young life — getting in trouble.

“The trouble part of it was self-induced,” he said. “In a small town, everybody knows what everybody does. Nobody in a small town can hold water. Everybody knows about it.”

Gilbert said the cover track, “Modern Day Prodigal Son,” is a true story that means a lot to him.

“It’s the trials and tribulations of leaving home, getting in trouble and having to come back home,” he said. “Everything on the album is something that I directly experienced. The next album has some situations that I wrote about that I watched other people go through, but I felt like I was in it with them. I won’t let myself write and put something out that I don’t feel like my heart and soul is in it.”

Gilbert said his follow-up CD, which will either be called “My Way” or “Halfway to Heaven,” is set for release in January will be “rocked up a little bit.”

“But, it still comes back to the small town, feel good side too,” he said. “It goes as far as we could go.”

Gilbert said he draws from a number of influences including established country acts to such rock bands as R.E.M. and the B-52’s.

“My influences are across the map,” he said. “There are so many I couldn’t really pinpoint one. I listened to everything I could get my hands on and learn something from. It doesn’t just have to be country and rock, but R&B; and rap... a little bit of everything.”

Gilbert said other songs he enjoys on his first album are “G.R.I.T.S.,” which is a take on the old acronym “Girls Raised in the South,” and “Indiana’s Angel,” which he wrote about his mother.

“‘My Kind of Party,’ every time I play that song live I think about my friends back home,” he said. “We used to light the bonfire, drop the tailgates, get the coolers out and throw down.”

Gilbert called the song “Whenever We’re Alone,” which has hints of Keith Urban’s “Stupid Boy,” a girl-getter.

In addition to his own solo career, Gilbert has written songs for such acts as Jason Aldean (“The Best of Me”) and Colt Ford (“Dirt Road Anthem”).

But, more often than not, his songs go back to small town life. It’s a theme country fans are drawn to with Justin Moore’s “Small Town USA” currently gaining significant airplay.

“Any time you talk about a small town, it almost inadvertently targets a market,” he said. “It’s something people really miss. We all grew up and went our own separate ways. But, in “Small Town USA” or “What’s Left of a Small Town” (one of Gilbert’s songs), no matter where you are, it brings you back home for a minute. It gives you a sense of being back there and that comfort. I feel a lot of the songs I write are about memories, good and bad. People always like the memories.”

Gilbert, who has faced tremendous setbacks to get to where is today, said he began performing as a teenager.

“I was horrible at singing, but I always tried,” he said. “At 14, I really started going out and playing shows. I started off in the praise and worship side of things. I got into a little bit of trouble, then started writing and playing my own stuff by age 15.”

Just over five years ago, Gilbert was involved in a serious car accident that helped him pursue his lifelong dreams of a country music career.

“I’ve realized that life can be very short, and everyone should take advantage of it,” he said. “If you’re gonna live, do something with it. Make it great.”

Gilbert said his performance at Overtime Sports Bar will be wide open with real high energy.

“It slows down in the middle and I play a couple of acoustic songs,” he said. “I try to scratch the surface of every emotion you can have. A lot of these shows where you play acoustic in the middle, a lot of fans walk out. I don’t know what it is about these songs. By no means am I patting myself on the back, but they stay out there and sing it with me.”

For more, visit www.myspace.com/brantleygilbertmusic or call 601-433-7772 for ticket information.