An old frame house, willow trees, a dirt driveway, a small garden--these are images that were ingrained in Alan Jackson as he grew up near a stretch of road known as the Dixie Highway. Those images have provided the origins for some of Jackson's biggest hits--songs such as "Livin' on Love," "Home" and "Chattahoochee." They're memories so vivid that they remain a source of inspiration on his latest album, Thirty Miles West.

 

Jackson has traveled far more than thirty miles from those small town beginnings in Newnan, Georgia--his music has taken him to the floorboards of the Grand Ole Opry, CBGB and Carnegie Hall, to stages as distant as Australia and Scandinavia, to performances in front of four Presidents. He's written and recorded songs that have celebrated and chronicled life since "Here in the Real World" put him on the map, finding himself in the elite company of Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Merle Haggard as the only songwriters who've written and recorded more than 20 songs that they've also taken to the top of the charts.