AJ and me

Somehow, some way, I managed to score an interview with Alan Jackson.

I don't always get knocked out by these people I sometimes talk to. Jackson, well, yeah... It was sort of a big deal.

What has now become several years ago, I used to work part-time as a country DJ. Actually, I did the country radio stuff so I could do the rock oldies station in the same building, which we all hoped would become a classic rock station. This was where I thought my talents as a gigantic smart ass would be put to their best use thus leading me to fame, fortune and a buffet of available women impressed by my brain and voice.

Yeah, that worked out real good.

I was never very much at the country (not so talented am I) and tended to get in trouble over at the oldies station for suggesting things like it was a good idea to drop your kids off at vacation bible school while you went off for a drink or two. This prompted my station manager to suggest I just stick with reading the cards or just go back to writing commercials.

Anyway, I didn't care much for the music on either station, but I liked mainstream country the least --except for a handful of artists, among them Alan Jackson (also George Strait). In my head, it sounded like it was supposed to. Even when he was being goofy, there was a certain kind of honesty in his voice and in the way the songs were written. He wasn't trying to sell you a lot of bullshit dressed up to look genuine.

Truth told. I've only purchased a couple of country CDs in my life (Of course, I have a bunch, but those were sent to me by publicists and record companies or were given in lieu of real pay, along with pizzas, t-shirts and movie tickets, when I worked in commercial radio). I purchased a couple of Alan Jackson CDs, which is a big deal for a guy who tends to like Thom York's anguished mumbling and still gets off on the Nine Inch Nails "Happiness in Slavery."

Anyway, I got him on the phone and didn't go all fan boy. I also resisted the temptation to ask him clearly antagonistic questions about the wide array of merchandise he's got selling at Cracker Barrel.

This kind of annoys me. I'm okay with albums, posters and t-shirts, but I don't care if George Jones is a legend, he shouldn't be hawking his own brand of bottled water or making sausage.

It's wrong, I tell you. It's wrong.

But I didn't have the heart to ask about the Alan Jackson leather wallet or his breath mints. It was just cool to talk to him about the show at the Charleston Civic Center he's turned into a benefit for the families of the miners killed in the Upper Big Branch.

It's a class act. Hell, it made me kind of want to buy a tin of Alan Jackson breath mints or get the salt and pepper shakers.