It’s been 25 years since Alan Jackson — still fresh from his days as a mailroom clerk at the TNN television studio — became the first artist signed to Arista Records’ newly-launched country wing. The small-town Georgia native has made the most of those two and a half decades, sending 35 singles to the top of the country charts while racking up more than three dozen Grammys, CMA awards, Billboard Music Awards and ACM trophies.
Although he insists he’s nowhere close to retirement — “I don’t know what I’d retire from; I don’t work much now,” he joked back in June, during a press conference announcing the tour’s earliest details — Jackson still thinks a quarter-century anniversary deserves some special celebration. That’s why he’s hitting the road this winter for a 25th anniversary tour, which will visit 25 cities over the course of five months.
The trek kicks off January 8th in Estero, Florida, less than a three-hour drive from the beach homes Jackson formerly owned in nearby Tequesta and Jupiter Island. From there, the “Keepin’ It Country Tour” — which will focus mostly on arenas and amphitheaters, with tickets for the Estero show ranging from $33.65 to $79.15 — will cover most of America during a spread-out series of weekend dates. There aren’t any northeast shows on the books at the moment, although a recent press release from Jackson’s PR team notes the possibility that “more dates may be added soon.”
Jackson has two openers lined up for the 25th anniversary trek. The first is Brandy Clark, the Grammy-nominated critics’ favorite who’s currently wrapping up a handful of sold-out fall dates with Eric Church and Dwight Yoakam. The other is Jon Pardi, a Top 40 country singer who, like a young Jackson himself, bridges the gap between classic country songwriting and more modern, mainstream sounds.
Alan Jackson’s 25th Anniversary Keepin’ It Country Tour:
January 8 — Fort Myers (Estero), Florida
January 9 — Tampa, Florida
February 20 — San Diego
February 21 — Laughlin, Nevada
February 27 — Los Angeles
February 28 — Phoenix
March 6 — Dallas
March 27 — Augusta, Georgia
March 28 — Greenville, South Carolina
April 9 — Wilmington, North Carolina
April 17 — Kansas City, Missouri
April 18 — Enid, Oklahoma
April 24 — Roanoke, Virginia
May 1 — Sioux City, Iowa
May 2 — Brookings, South Dakota
May 8 — Green Bay, Wisconsin
May 9 — Bloomington, Illinois
May 16 — Salt Lake City
May 17 — Denver
