AJ Celebrates An Amazing Quarter Century Of Success

Alan Jackson and his family, as well as members of his road band and many of his co-writers were on hand as the superstar’s exhibit, 25 Years of Keepin’ It Country, was unveiled. Included in the exhibit are the guitar he played on the CMA Awards when he debuted “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” just two months after the September 11th terrorist attacks and the nation’s response that inspired the song; the front of an old, red Ford pickup truck that served as Jackson’s first Fan Fair booth, before his sister and brother-in-law had it made into a desk; The water ski Jackson rode, while wearing his trademark white cowboy hat, in the “Chattahoochee” music video; a collection of belt buckles from the Houston Rodeo -- which Jackson has played more than 20 times. Alan’s “first love,” a used 1955 Ford Thunderbird, will be on display in the conservatory of the Hall of Fame.

“It’s just hard to believe that I’m included in this great building with so many legends of great American music and to be a part of it is just unreal, this whole thing’s unreal,” says Alan. “We’re glad to share it and I hope that all of my fans especially will enjoy seeing what they helped build.”

Alan Jackson: 25 Years of Keepin' It Country opens to the public on Friday (August 29th).
A little tidbit -- the reason the exhibit is called Keepin' It Country -- other than the obvious -- is that with every correspondence the legendary George Jones would send to Alan, he'd sign it 'Keep It Country.'

Alan will also take the stage in the museum's new 800-seat CMA Theater as its 2014 Artist-in-Residence on October 8th and 22nd.
Both Wednesday night concerts start at 7 p.m. Tickets go on sale at Noon on Monday, September 8th.

Alan Jackson Moves In (To The Country Music Hall Of Fame)

More info at (click).

Alan Jackson Celebrates 25 Years

June 26, 1989 – 25 years ago – a then-unknown singer-songwriter from the small town of Newnan, GA put pen to paper and signed his first major recording contract…and that “dream come true” moment set the stage for a career that Jackson – and those in the room with him – could only have imagined.

Twenty-five years later, Jackson is still going strong. He’s sold millions of albums, scored dozens of chart-topping hits, written songs that defined a generation, and entertained country music fans around the world...and he recently announced plans for a year-long celebration of his 25th anniversary in the music business. Jackson is working on new music that will be released in the coming months…a special 25-city, 25th anniversary tour is being planned for 2015…and on August 29th the Country Music Hall of Fame will unveil a new exhibit coinciding with Jackson’s role as the Hall’s next Artist-in-Residence.

CMA Week Updates

1.  Click here to directly access CMA Blue Room video interviews recorded Monday and Tuesday from the Premiere Radio Remotes at the CMA Awards.

2.  The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) hosted the 51st Annual ASCAP Country Music Awards on Monday, November 4th in the Grand Ballroom at Nashville’s newly opened Music City Center.

The writers of country music's most performed songs of the period between April 2012 and March 2013 were honored before an audience of Nashville's most distinguished songwriters, top country stars and music industry leaders.

Special tribute was paid to George Strait, who was presented with the ASCAP Founders Award in a segment that included musical homage to the “King” of country from Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and Lee Ann Womack.

Alan Jackson's Precious Memories Volume II Hits Stores Tomorrow

Alan Jackson named his first gospel album “Precious Memories,” but it took him until round two to get a song by that name on an album.

Jackson’s 11-song collection “Precious Memories Volume II” will be in stores Tuesday and this time it contains the title track.

“Everybody was like, ‘Why didn’t you put “Precious Memories” on the first one?” Jackson recalls. “Truth is we didn’t even sing that song in the Baptist Church. I don’t even think it’s in the hymnal. I love the song and we just picked that title for the first one and now it makes sense to do it, but it’s kind of backwards.”

As for the other 10 tracks on the album, Jackson says he and his wife Denise had some of the song choices made before they ever officially started making them.

“That first album was just a fluke,” Jackson says of the now double-platinum album. “I made that thing right quick for my mama and so many people loved it. All I been hearing is, ‘When you gonna make another one?’ We just picked up where we left off with the last one with all the songs we had and tried to figure out a few more that would work.”

In addition to “Precious Memories,” the album includes “Amazing Grace,” “He Lives,” “There’s Power in the Blood” and “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder.”

"Music for Mineral: The Aftershock of Hope"

The online voting that drew Alan Jackson to a high school parking lot Sunday night may have started as "kind of a complicated little deal" to promote his album, the country music star told 6,000 people who gathered to hear him sing.

But as so many votes came in for Mineral, he said, the contest ended up showing the power of people coming together to aid a tiny community hit hard by a magnitude-5.8 quake Aug. 23.

His "Music for Mineral: The Aftershock of Hope" benefit concert near the quake's epicenter raised $152,500 for the Louisa Education Foundation to assist in rebuilding the county's schools.

It was held in the parking lot of Louisa County High School, which was condemned after the quake.

"This is probably the biggest thing Louisa ever had," said Lindsey Moroch, a 2008 graduate of Louisa High School.

- By Karin Kapsidelis - Richmond Times-Dispatch

Garth and Alan Inducted

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation inductees for the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame: from the Songwriter category, hit writers John Bettis, Thom Schuyler and Allen Shamblin; from the Songwriter/Artist category, country superstars Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson.

Induction into the prestigious songwriting community was held at the 41st Anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony October 16 at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel.

Vince Gill Saluting Hank Sr.

Vince Gill, Alan Jackson and Patty Loveless are among the stars contributing songs to the multi-artist compilation, Hank Williams: The Lost Notebooks, now in stores.  Bob Dylan spearheaded the project to find artists to finish incomplete Hank Williams, Sr. lyrics, and Alan Jackson contributed the album's first track "You've Been Lonesome, Too."  

Vince and his pal Rodney Crowell collaborated on the song "I Hope You Shed a Million Tears."  At first, Vince was a little intimidated by the prospect of working on the project, but having Rodney work with him made it fun. 

Vince and Rodney's song also features the Hank Williams' late steel guitar player Don Helms on his last recording before he died in 2008.  Norah Jones, Sheryl Crow, Merle Haggard, Jack White and Holly Williams are among the other artists on the Hank Williams: The Lost Notebooks project.

Country Stars Subject To "Buffet Tax"

You know, the Buffet tax.  It's the tax proposed in Washington to assure millionaires pay a "fair share" according to the Washington politicians.  Looking at the list of country stars and their incomes, here's a representative list of who would be paying. 

Toby Keith tops Forbes' "Country Music's Highest-Paid Stars" list with $50 million.

Earnings from tour dates (more than $500k at each stop), I Love This Bar & Grill estimates ($8m in 2010), the Wild Shot Mezcal launch and a Ford sponsorship. 

Here are the remaining top 10:

#2 - Taylor Swift ($45million) – Her concerts bring in $750,000 per night in gross ticket sales (Add Merchandise – WOW!).

#3 - Brad Paisley ($40 million) - Nearly doubling last year's earnings thanks to sponsorship deals with Chevy, Sea Ray and others. Sea Gayle Music, the music publishing company Paisley co-founded in 1999 is another revenue generator.

#4 - Tim McGraw ($35 million) - In addition to grossing $575,000 per night on tour, McGraw took in an estimated $3.3 million from films Country Strong and Dirty Girl. His line of cologne is among the best selling celebrity scents.

#5 - Rascal Flatts ($34 million) - rely on touring, merchandise and royalties for the bulk of their earnings.

#6 - Kenny Chesney ($30 million) - Chesney's concerts gross an average of $1.6 million every night. Chesney also raked in an estimated $7.5 million in royalties in 2010.

#7 – George Strait ($24 million) - The oldest singer on the highest-paid list – Touring is the bulk of his earnings in just over thirty shows, spread out over 12 months; each of Strait's concerts pulls in a whopping $1.4 million. 

#8 – Alan Jackson ($22 million) – Making most of his money on touring.

#9 – Carrie Underwood ($20 million) - Branching out in lucrative fashion and she signed a deal to be the first North American spokesmodel for Olay.

#10 – Sugarland ($18 million) – Making most of their money on touring and royalties.

The list reflects earnings between May 2010 and May 2011. 

Forbes consulted agents, managers, publishers, lawyers and others to compute the estimates, which are gross earnings. Taxes and other components (agent and manager fees) are not deducted.

Win A Concert With Alan Jackson

The quake-rocked town of Mineral, Virginia became the epicenter of last month's East Coast earthquake is leading a contest to have Alan Jackson perform in their hometown for free. 

According to Richmond's WTVR, Mineral has a commanding lead. Jackson earlier announced he would perform a free concert for the town with the most online votes. 

The residents of Mineral say a concert like Jackson's could boost spirits and help them raise money to repair the damage caused by the five-point-eight earthquake that took place on August 23rd. 

Sponsored by eventful.com, the contest will remain open until October 10th. A date for the free concert has yet to be announced.

Jackson Song Reunites Family

Alan Jackson and rocker Ozzy Osbourne recently worked together to find and save a missing California boy.

A song from each artist was played over a loud speaker to lure missing 8-year-old Joshua Robb from his hiding spot.

NBC reports that Robb, who is autistic, slipped through a fence at his school in Twin Peaks, Calif. on Monday. Staff members tried to chase him down, but he scurried into the forest before they could catch up to him. A search team found his T-shirt but knew he’d be facing overnight temperatures in the low 60s in only shorts, sandals and his T-shirt.

The boy’s father recommended using two of his son’s favorite songs, Jackson’s ‘Good Time’ and Osbourne’s ‘No More Tears.’ “

Jackson hasn’t commented on the incident.

Keith Urban and Mercury Blues Video

Keith Urban made a ‘shadowy’ appearance on Alan Jackson’s 1994 Mercury Blues video. Keith was new to Nashville when he heard that Alan was shooting a video and needed a long-haired guitar player in the video. 

Keith got the job thanks to Alan’s manager who at the time was running the publishing company that Keith signed with.  

Keith on shooting the video said he knew Alan was known for being ‘quiet’ and kept waiting for Alan to acknowledge him but Alan never said a word.  Keith admits they are friends now.

Garth And Alan Together Again

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation announced this year’s inductees for the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame:

In the Songwriter category, hit writers John Bettis, Thom Schuyler and Allen Shamblin were selected.  In the Songwriter/Artist category, country superstars Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson.

Induction into the prestigious songwriting community will be held at the 41st Anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony to be held on Sunday October 16 at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel.

Songs To Boat Away The Remainder Of Summer

Discover Boating, the U.S recreational boating industry's non profit arm, took to Facebook to get the songs that best capture beating the heat on a boat. Their are 195,000 Facebook fans of boating. Around 1500 took the time to vote on the top 10 list. Here were the results including five country songs by Zac Brown Band, Craig Morgan, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, and Lyle Lovett.

Here are the Top 10 Boating Songs according to Discover Boating fans.

1. “A Pirate Looks at Forty″ - Jimmy Buffett

A Parrothead favorite, released in 1975. The song is one of Buffett's "Big 8" played at every show he performs.

2. “Come Sail Away” - Styx

3. “Redneck Yacht Club” – Craig Morgan

This song was filmed at Percy Priest Lake in Nashville. It's what you expect with Craig, he and his buddies having fun on and around the water. Blake Shelton and Aaron Tippin also show up.

4. “Southern Cross” - Crosby, Stills & Nash

5. “It's Five O’Clock Somewhere” – Alan Jackson feat. Jimmy Buffett

Massive number one country song for Alan Jackson. Yes, that is Alan's boat in the video.

6. “Knee Deep” - Zac Brown Band feat. Jimmy Buffett

Number one song from the Zac Brown Band. This song makes me want to run off.

7. “Boats” - Kenny Chesney

No video from Chesney was ever done for this song, and its not a song he performs live. It really does capture boating.

8. “Sloop John B” - The Beach Boys

9. “If I Had A Boat” – Lyle Lovett

10. “Rock The Boat” - Hues Corporation

A classic hits staple, Rock The Boat by the Hues Corporation rounds out the top 10. Some consider the song the first "disco" song on the Billboard chart. I don't hear it.

AJ's New Single

Alan Jackson released “Long Way To Go,” the debut single from the joint venture between EMI Records Nashville and ACR (Alan’s Country Records).

Alan and EMI previewed the new single at a private event in Nashville last week.

“Seems like every time you turn around lately there’s just something heavy going on in the world, so I felt like singing something that was kind of light and fun,” explains Jackson from a press release. “I hope some people like it.”

Alan penned the song which is the first single from his new studio album to be released this fall.