Alan Jackson

“It’s the kind of country music I’ve always made. I really don’t stray from that. It’s what I came to Nashville to do and I’m still doing it,” Alan Jackson talking about Freight Train his latest album

Alan Jackson, the most creatively consistent honky-tonker of the neo-traditional country singers of the 1990s, has built his career gradually and sensibly, writing and performing some of the most authentic sounding country music to be heard within the mainstream country format. A quiet maverick who eschews the trappings of success, he is a talented songwriter of immense depth, unafraid to wrestle with complex issues arising from his southern upbringing, love of country music and his family. The first time I ever saw and heard this man it gave me a feeling that I hadn’t had since I first heard guys like Merle Haggard, Marty Robbins and Don Williams. It’s hard to put into words, but I sensed things like charisma, honest country music, vocal expressiveness, masculine sensitivity and plain ol’ raw talent. Oh yeah, one more thing, stardom.
As trends in music have come and gone over the past twenty years, Alan Jackson has steadfastly and consistently remained a staunch traditionalist—and his fans seem to love him for it. He’s had 34 number one singles, 24 of which he wrote himself, sold over 50 million albums worldwide and more Country Music Association award nominations than anyone else in history. So now, twenty years after scoring his first country top ten hit with Here In the Real World, Alan Jackson no longer feels like he has anything to prove professionally.
“I feel like I’ve earned some respect as an artist, writer and singer,” he has said in a recent interview. “I’ve tried to maintain a level of integrity …”
Yet, when it comes to the UK, he is virtually unknown outside of the somewhat insular country music community. To a certain extent this is down to Jackson himself. He came over to London in the summer of 1990 to promote HERE IN THE REAL WORLD, his debut album. With his band, the Strayhorns, he performed a live session for the BBC to an invited audience and has not been back since.