Alan Jackson performs at the 56th annual Academy of Country Music Awards in April at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

Despite the fact that I was born and raised in New England, and weaned on rock and roll, I’ve always loved country music. There are many country stars whose work I appreciate, and none more than Alan Jackson. A tall, strapping guy who is perpetually clad in his signature broad brimmed cowboy hat, he looks like he’d be far more comfortable on the set of a Hollywood Western than on a concert stage or in a recording studio. Through the years his songs have often painted smiles on my face and have also touched my tears. I’ve been a fan for decades. Like the rest of his fan base, I’ve been waiting six long years for a new album from the soft-spoken and humble 62 year old country music icon, and a couple of weeks ago “Where Have You Gone,” finally arrived.

Six years is the longest period of time between studio releases for him since he first burst onto the music scene with the mega hit singles “Chattahoochee” and “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” way back in 1990. “Where Have You Gone” contains 21 new songs, 15 of which Jackson penned himself. The long drought is finally over, and the new album was well worth the wait. It’s been three decades since the Georgia-born and raised Jackson took off “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow,” and across that wide gulf of years he has always remained true to his country roots. On “Where Have You Gone” he sings from his heart about fatherly love, the painful losses that are a part of life’s journey, and he also serves up a healthy helping of the down home honky-tonk music that he’s always loved; the music that made him a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017.

This new album was a very long time in the making, as the death of his mother in 2017, and then his son-in-law in 2018, and finally the COVID pandemic in 2020 resulted in Jackson taking an extended pause before writing any new material, getting back into the studio and now going back out on the touring circuit. At heart, “Where Have You Gone” is his love song to country music. The title track, and first cut on it, is his plea for the return of steel guitars, fiddles and country songs that have real substance to them. The song plays out as if Jackson is mourning the death of a person.

“Soft steel guitars oh how I’ve missed you

Words from the heart let me hear you again

Sounds from the soul, fiddle I need you

Sweet country music where have you gone?”

A long time ago he arrived at the place where he no longer had the need to chase after radio hits, and with this album, he charts a course for that freedom to explore areas that are of importance to him. The songs are reflective of Jackson’s life over the past several years. “You’ll Always Be My Baby,” as well as “I Do” were written for his daughters’ weddings while he penned the poignant “Where Her Heart Has Always Been” for his mother’s funeral. The song incorporates a recording of her reading from the bible. That being said, there are also a number of upbeat lighthearted tracks such as “Back,” and “Beer: 10,” and a bonus track “That’s the Way Love Goes,” his personal tribute to friend and country legend, Merle Haggard.

Country music has a long history of telling stories of heartache, crying at the bar, lost love and regret for the road not taken. In the emotional and nostalgia-tinged track “Wishful Drinkin'” he sings of that regret and longing.

“Wish you were coming home

Wishin’ I could take back all I didn’t do”

What is striking across so many of the songs in this immense creative undertaking is the way in which Jackson captures the authenticity of all things country, both lyrically and instrumentally. He has assembled a deeply personal and emotional collection of compelling songs that are planted deeply in the down-home soil of traditional country music. A proof point of this is found in the album’s closer, “The Older I Get” where he speaks from the heart about how the aging process brings clarity and focus to the things that matter most in life. The material things that we all pursue are, in the final analysis, a very distant second to the relationships that we forge with each other. Alan Jackson, the poster child for traditional country music, still has a great deal to share with the world through his music. As I say, his songs paint smiles on one’s face and also touch one’s tears. Welcome back, Alan. You’ve been missed.

Paul Collins is a freelance writer from Southborough, Massachusetts.

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