The Boot
Posted Dec 3rd 2010 4:00PM by Alanna Conaway
    

Alan Jackson has been a touring country music artist for 20-plus years. During that time, he has spent countless days on the road, but has always made time for family, which includes wife Denise and their three daughters, Mattie, Alexandra and Dani. As Alan looks toward the future, he knows things will never be as they were at the beginning of his career, and he's OK with that.

"I've slowed down a lot in the last few years," Alan tells Country Weekly. "I don't tour as much as I used to because I've been doing it for [so long] and you've got so much going on at home with your family. It's hard to be away as much as you were in the early days."

But Alan says he won't be hanging up his Stetson any time soon. "I've always said that if you have songs on the radio and get played, you've got to have a tour to support that," he says. "I think if you retire from touring then people think you are retired. I think the industry looks at you that way as well as the fans. I still enjoy making albums and creating music, and like anybody, I think the touring get get tiring [with] being gone a lot. I think just as long as you can balance it right, it doesn't wear you out and you won't get sick of it, especially once our children get grown and the wife will be able to travel with me. We might enjoy doing more of that stuff like that. I guess as long as I can keep selling some tickets and albums and end up on the radio, there's no sense in quitting. I think some of my fans still like the music I'm making out there and the kind of country music I make, so I'll just keep on doing it, I reckon."

Earlier this week, Alan opened up about his future with longtime label, Arista Nashville, and life as a "free agent." Alan recently released '34 Number Ones' on Arista, which includes his version of Johnny Cash's hit, 'Ring of Fire,' as well as the recent Zac Brown Band collaboration, 'As She's Walking Away.'