Alan is often referred to as a standard-bearer of traditional country and since 1989 he has sold over 45 million records, and has recorded 31 number-one songs, 21 of which he composed. He has won upwards of 95 Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, Grammy, ASCAP, American Music, Billboard and other industry awards and holds the record for most Country Music Association nominations. Twenty time Grammy winner Alison Krauss is also considered by many a torch-bearing bluegrass artist who creates on the forward-edge of her genre. It was assumed that her work with Alan would result in a bluegrass record. In fact, Alan Jackson initially assumed this when first discussing such a project with her, backstage at a 2005 Grand Ole Opry Carnegie Hall show.

“I was wanting to make a bluegrass album…I’ve always been a big fan,” Alan says. “I thought, ‘I’m going to ask her if she’d be interested in producing a bluegrass album.’ She agreed to think about it and then agreed to do it, and that’s how it started.” He goes on to explain, “A couple of weeks went by and she came up to me and said she’d do the bluegrass if I wanted to, but she had this other concept that she wanted to run by me...so we went in and tried out three songs first, and they turned out pretty cool.”

That given, Like Red on a Rose opens with a ballad called “Anywhere On Earth You Are” that includes phrasings and music which, in terms of terms, are not bluegrass. In the song, Jackson does sing of “blue highways” and of “many miles to go,” and of being away from home; and these are themes throughout the album, and these are themes which reflect his life as a veteran recording artist. “There are songs on here that sound like something from my life—anybody that has to be away from home can definitely connect.” Alan has noted that this is a “moody” and “reflective” record. Perhaps it is.

“I mentioned wanting to make a record about a man who was reflecting on his life…from a peaceful place that he’s pleased with,” Krauss explains. She envisioned “a man that does things differently now than when he was younger…who’s in a place in his life where he’s thrilled with his life and his marriage and his family.”

People have described Alan Jackson as being of the “six strings, three chords and the truth” country tradition. Here, it might also be appropriate to add “88 keys” to the equation, as there are many, many keyboard tracks: piano, Fender Rhodes, Hammond B-3, Wurlitzer and Clavinet. Those familiar with the extended reach of Nashville-based eclecticism will also take note of the community on record, which includes Ms. Krauss, Viktor Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Kenny Vaughan, Howard Levy, Bernard Purdie, Michael McDonald, Joey Miskulin, Sam Bush, Dan Tyminski, Lee Ann Womack, Gordon J. Mote, Jim Cox, Ron Block, Richard Sterban and others. Of the music they assembled to record, only one of the thirteen cuts was composed by Mr. Jackson, and it, “A Woman’s Love,” is a re-release. Rather, here he predominantly internalizes and interprets, as much collaborator as principal to the writers and musicians, producer and process. (Other individuated country narratives include Willie Nelson’s take on “Blue Eyes Cryin’ In The Rain,” Hank Williams’ on “Lost Highway,” and in fact much of the entire rural-oral tradition itself). As example, hear Alan’s version of Leon Russell’s “Bluebird.”

“I have more respect for him now than I could have imagined just by how unbelievably talented he is,” says Alison, a noted vocalist in her own right. “I feel like I learned more about singing just in those five months working with him than I have in I don’t know how many years. I compare working on this to how I felt when I was a teenager and really getting into music and how that was all you thought about,” she adds. “It was a dream to work with that voice.”

“I really have to give her credit for this whole concept and the whole sound,” Alan offers. “She [Alison] knew what it was going to sound like.” To Alan, the results of their collaboration are “an album that you put on in the evening when you and your spouse are having a glass of wine and you can just sit back and listen.”

“Like Red on a Rose,” the title track from the album, embodies the sound Alan describes. “I loved the sentiments, and the lyrics and the whole feel—a waltz and…such a haunting melody. It’s so pretty.” Alison thought of the song immediately once the album concept formed in her mind—she’d known it for years, but never felt that she was the person who should give voice to it. “The words are so positive and romantic…and the chords are very passionate,” she says. “He is just incredibly gifted.”

Listeners may hear a range of influences on Like Red on a Rose. Echoes of “Wichita Lineman” or “Rainy Night In Georgia” or Don Williams or Mickey Newbury; blue-eyed soul or ’70s folk.

What is certain is that they will hear Alan Jackson from Newnan, Georgia.