NASHVILLE,
TN – The bloom is on for “Like Red on a Rose,” the
first single from superstar Alan Jackson’s new Arista Nashville album,
releasing September 26. The track marks a stunning preview of Jackson’s
first collaboration with 20-time Grammy winner Alison Krauss as album producer.
Radio demand was immediate following an e-mail that delivered stations a 30-second
preview of the compelling new ballad.
Country radio received the full song via overnight delivery last week, with instant airplay from multiple outlets, including popular syndicated program After MidNite with Blair Garner, which latched onto the chance to world premiere “Like Red on a Rose” when it became available for radio download at midnight on Tuesday.
The excitement continues this week, as “Like Red on a Rose” becomes the most-added new track at country radio, with 59 stations already spinning the song a week ahead of the official airplay target date.
Jackson says, “I loved it the first time I heard the demo,” and it was one of the first he recorded with Krauss at the helm. “She had this vision, and she has such a good ear for music and songs … and I think more than the songs, it was probably the approach of her production and the instruments she used, and how she used them, to see how they all worked with my voice.”
The seductively atmospheric new track frames the warmth of Jackson’s vocals amid the moody, swaying balladry of the Robert Lee Castleman/Melanie Castleman-penned song.
“Like Red on a Rose” reunites Jackson with the work of the Castlemans, whose “Maybe I Should Stay Here” was featured on his million-selling 2000 disc, When Somebody Loves You. As a recording artist herself, Krauss has enjoyed success with multiple Robert Lee Castleman tracks, including “Let Me Touch You for Awhile” and 2001’s Best Country Song Grammy winner, “The Lucky One.”
The still-to-be-titled new album will be Jackson’s first mainstream country disc since his Platinum-certified 2004 collection, What I Do.