Alan Jackson Teases New Album in 6 Years, Inspired By the People in His Life

Alan Jackson is releasing new music in six years and he’s teasing fans by surprisingly dropping 3 new tracks in what is to be a 21-track project. Angels and Alcohol, his last album that was released in 2015, had ten tracks, seven of which Alan Jackson penned.

Alan Jackson’s Most Personal Record Yet

The country singer is definitely back at his game, and he’s not playing. With 21 tracks in his upcoming album, and with the help of his hard working crew, he’s ready and set to release his album on May 14th. Where Have You Gone, the album’s title, along with two other songs, Things That Matter and Way Down in My Whiskey, are three of the songs that he released on April 2.

Talking about his new album, Jackson says that the album is country but that it’s a different kind of country from what he’s done in the past. “Real Country songs are life and love and heartache, drinking and Mama and having a good time…but it’s the sounds of the instruments, too. The steel and acoustic guitar, the fiddle – those things have a sound and a tone… and getting that right, the way those things make you feel, that’s country, too.”

He’s got songs on this album that he originally didn’t write for the enjoyment of his fans. You’ll Always Be My Baby and I do were two songs he’d written for his daughters’ weddings. Some songs on the album were inspired by his family, the good and the bad times, and the remembrance of both. Where Her Heart Has Always Been was one he’d written for his dear mother’s funeral, and the track includes a recording of his mother reading a portion of The Bible.

He also saluted the late Merle Haggard, country singer and multi-instrumentalist, with a song that Haggard himself performed during his life. As for the whole project, fans should be expecting to cry and laugh in equal measures.

“I was driving and listening to the final mixes Keith sent me, and I started to tear up. I was surprised to get so overly emotional, but I just love this kind of music.”

Where Have You Gone Details

Jackson produced the album alongside his long-time producer and friend, Keith Stegall, who also worked on his last album. Jackson wrote fifteen songs on the album by himself, and made it up with songs written by Robert Keith Stegall, Michael White, Scotty Emerick and others.

Jackson’s songs have always provided a visual depth, and he did not step back from it in this new project, as his lyrics were laden with visions of a time and place, a sort of stepping back into the time when a memory was made.
1. “Where Have You Gone” (Alan Jackson)
2. “Wishful Drinkin’” (Alan Jackson)
3. “I Can Be That Something” (Alan Jackson)
4. “Where the Cottonwood Grows” (Alan Jackson)
5. “Way Down In My Whiskey” (Alan Jackson)
6. “Things That Matter” (Robert Keith Stegall, Michael White)
7. “Livin’ On Empty” (Alan Jackson) 8. “You’ll Always Be My Baby (Written for Daughters’ Weddings)” (Alan Jackson)
9. “Where Her Heart Has Always Been (Written for Mama’s funeral with an old recording of her reading from The Bible)” (Alan Jackson)
10. “The Boot” (Adam Wright)
11. “Back” (Alan Jackson)
12. “Write It In Red” (Alan Jackson)
13. “So Late So Soon” (Scotty Emerick, Daniel Tashian, Sarah Buxton)
14. “This Heart Of Mine” (Adam Wright)
15. “A Man Who Never Cries” (Alan Jackson)
16. “Chain” (Alan Jackson)
17. “I Was Tequila” (Alan Jackson)
18. “I Do (Written for Daughters’ Weddings)” (Alan Jackson)
19. “Beer:10” (Alan Jackson)
20. “The Older I Get”* (Hailey Whitters, Adam Wright, Sarah Turner)
Extra Track: “That’s The Way Love Goes” (A Tribute to Merle Haggard) (Lefty Frizzell, Whitey Shafer)

Be sure to catch up on everything happening with Alan Jackson. Come back here often for Alan Jackson news and updates.

Photo Credit: Alan Jackson Instagram