Jackson's gone bluegrass

He’s gone bluegrass. That’s the news from traditional country singer Alan Jackson, who once eschewed those who tried to cash in on country music. “The Bluegrass Album” will be released Sept. 24 on Jackson’s ACR label, distributed by EMI Records Nashville. Eight of the tracks are Jackson originals, along with covers of The Dillards’ There Is A Time, John Anderson’s Wild And Blue and a slow, 3/4 time version of Blue Moon Of Kentucky. When he brought Alison Krauss in to produce his 2006 project, “Like Red On A Rose,” some thought Jackson might veer towards bluegrass, but the disc stayed in the country realm. This year, though, Jackson assembled an all-star cast of bluegrass pickers and singers in April, and tracked a new all-acoustic record at The Castle outside of Nashville. Sammy Shelor on banjo, Adam Steffey on mandolin, Tim Crouch on fiddle, Tim Dishman on bass, Rob Ickes on reso-guitar, and Scott Coney on guitar all participated. Ronnie Bowman and Don Rigsby were on hand to provide harmony vocals, with Keith Stegall and Adam Wright (he is Jackson’s nephew and one-half of The Wrights with his wife, Shannon) producing. Shelor said that they tracked all the rhythms and most of the vocals in five sessions over two days. The band sat in a circle with half dividers between them so that everyone could see each other, with Jackson and the backup singers tracking live with the band. “The most we did on any song was three takes; we got most of them the first time. We worked from charts, but Alan knew what he wanted on every song before we started,” said Shelor in a story posted on Jackson’s web site. Coney also plays guitar, fiddle and banjo in Jackson’s country band. Jackson told Coney to put a band together for this record, but that he didn’t want it to ‘sound like all the other bluegrass albums country artists cut in this town.'” “Alan’s voice lends itself perfectly to bluegrass, in my opinion. If you like Ronnie Bowman or Marty Raybon singing bluegrass, you’ll love Alan Jackson doing it,” Shelor said. “I’m extremely blessed and happy to be a part of this project. It’s a great bluegrass record, and its Alan Jackson singing. What more could you ask?” Current plans suggest that Jackson will do some television and selected live shows to promote “The Bluegrass Album” around the release date, with a likelihood of further touring to follow. They hope to hit a number of major bluegrass festivals next year as well, using the same musicians who appear on the album. Songs on the disc are: 1.) Long Hard Road – Alan Jackson 2.) Mary – Jackson 3.) Appalachian Mountain Girl – Jackson 4.) Tie Me Down – Alan Jackson 5.) Way Beyond The Blue – Mark D. Sanders/Randy Albright/Lisa Silver 6.) Ain’t Got Trouble Now – Adam Wright 7.) Blue Ridge Mountain Song – Alan Jackson 8.) Blacktop – Alan Jackson 9.) Blue Side of Heaven – Alan Jackson 10.) There Is A Time – Rodney Dillard/Mitch Jayne 11.) Wild and Blue – John Scott Sherrill 12.) Knew All Along – Adam Wright/Shannon Wright 13.) Let’s Get Back to Me and You – Alan Jackson 14.) Blue Moon of Kentucky – Bill Monroe