The 'Remember When' singer talks about his music hiatus, explaining that he couldn't find motivation to make music following the deaths of his mother and son-in-law.
- Apr 7, 2021
AceShowbiz - Country singer Alan Jackson lost the passion for making music after a string of family tragedies.
The "Remember When" star is preparing to launch "Where Have You Gone" - his first album in six years - in May (21), and the project features three particularly personal tracks, including "Where Her Heart's Always Been", a song he originally wrote for his mother's 2017 funeral.
Jackson admits the long break between 2015's "Angels and Alcohol" and his new material wasn't planned, but he couldn't bring himself to focus on his career after losing his mum and then his son-in-law, Ben Selecman, in a fall on a dock in September, 2018 - less than a year after marrying the musician's eldest daughter, Mattie.
In a statement about "Where Have You Gone" upcoming release, Jackson explains the heartache prompted him to shelve the album he had been working on at the time of the double deaths, because he simply "didn't really feel like making music for a couple years."
Jackson eventually picked up the pen again and started reminiscing about his youth in Georgia, which inspired much of "Where Have You Gone", reports Taste of Country.
"When I write, I visualise back home and growing up," he explained. "I say this: 'Real country songs are life and love and heartache, drinking and Mama and having a good time...' But it's the sound 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."
The album will also include the tunes "I Do" and "You'll Always Be My Baby", which he wrote for his daughters' weddings.
