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Alan Jackson in tune with career

His talent, values shine bright, showing he's state of the art

By DAVE TIANEN
dtianen@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Oct. 3, 2004

He met his wife at the Dairy Queen in Newnan, Ga.

They were high school sweethearts.

He drove a forklift at Kmart and worked in a garage.

His main influences are George Jones, Merle Haggard and Hank Williams.

In his spare, time he likes to go fishing, ride Harleys, root for the Tennessee Titans and watch "The Andy Griffith Show."

If Alan Jackson weren't a great country singer, he could be a great country song.

If Jackson is the greatest country singer out there today - and he might well be - it is in part because all the themes and values of country music come together in his music and his life.

All of those qualities were on display again Saturday night when Jackson returned to Milwaukee for a date at the Bradley Center with Martina McBride.

Jackson is admittedly not exactly the most riveting of showmen. Tapping the boot on his left foot is about the extent of his showmanship. He doesn't so much walk as saunter. To compensate for Jackson's limited demonstrativeness, this show once again made lavish use of multiple projection screens. There was a dual advantage there: The ladies could fully appreciate Jackson's lean 6-foot 4-inch frame, and videos illustrated the songs.

Almost every classic country theme made at least a cameo. There were odes to the glories of the internal combustion engine: "Drive" and "Mercury Blues." There were celebrations of small town life: "Chattahoochee" and "Little Bitty." There was a nod to Hank Williams - "Hey Good Lookin'." There was a cheatin' song - "Who's Cheatin' Who," a swath of honky tonk - "Don't Rock the Jukebox" and sincere patriotism - "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)."

It's not enough, of course, just to understand the thematic terrain of country music. What sets Jackson apart and above is his ability to re-create that terrain in songs that are fresh, yet traditional, and perform them with complete conviction. He is a man who, without question, believes in what he is singing. Amid the plasticity of contemporary country, that is no small thing.

It is also no small gesture of confidence that he is willing to follow Martina McBride, who answers his nonchalance with booming pipes and bursting energy. Some of her best songs are thumping anthems like "This One's for the Girls," and where Jackson covers old Hank, McBride turns to the showbiz bravura of Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow" and the pugnacious defiance of Pat Benatar in "Hit Me With Your Best Shot."

With her big voice and eclectic taste, McBride seems a bit like a Generation X Linda Ronstadt. Like Ronstadt, her music is not so much country as informed by country, but she is a vibrant stage presence and seems to connect with the lives and aspirations of young country women as well as anybody.