What a great article!! The picture ain't bad either!!http://www.theday.com/article/20110428/ENT10/304289294/1044Alan Jackson's country to the core
Published 04/28/2011 12:00 AMUpdated 04/28/2011 02:06 AM
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You can walk into any religion department at any college in the southeast and take a course on Alan Jackson. The dude is pretty much a god, is what I'm trying to say.
Indeed, for those whose appreciation for country music precludes the saccharine poppy stuff oozing out of Nashville these days, Jackson's hit-spangled career is deeply steeped in honky tonk, gospel and even bluegrass. The real stuff, my old man woulda said.
Now, fresh from a sold-out, first-ever tour of Australia, Jackson and his veteran band, the Strayhorns, kick off a North American junket Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
To give you an idea of what's in store, Jackson's most recent release is called "34 Number Ones" - and, yes, that's a reference to the number of chart-topping singles he's had. Expect to hear a bunch of them, as well as good stuff from his last studio CD, "Freight Train."
Personally, I'd hang by my thumbs over flames for several hours just to hear him do "Drive," which is one of the finest songs about fatherhood ever recorded.
Texan Sunny Sweeney, whose first hit, the pretty wonderful "From a Table Away," appears in support. Her debut major label album should hit stores in a few months. Get there on time and catch her set.
- RICK KOSTER
Alan Jackson with Sunny Sweeney, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Mohegan Sun Arena; $40, $60; mohegansun.com.
