Less is more for Alan Jackson. And, ultimately, for his fans. The low-key Georgia native has quietly built a career over the past 10 years that has brought him to a place that most artists want to be in control.
      Now the singer-songwriter, whom some see as a modern throwback to another, more traditional, era of country, is in an even better position to do things his way.
      "I'm enjoying it more now," says Jackson in a rare interview. "I believe overall my career has been more enjoyable the last few years, more relaxed.
      I've reached a level of success so I don't work quite so hard to get there anymore." Very simply, it gives him a chance to enjoy it, he says. "There's not as much pressure to produce. When there are less [concert] dates, there is less stress on you and you tend to feel better onstage," he explains.
      Everyonethe artist and the audiencecan come up a winner in that situation. "You can easily get burned out after years of doing a couple hundred dates a year. It gets kind of tiring," Jackson says in the late-morning conversation. "When you reduce the number of dates, you look forward to doing the few dates and to the time off." Few will argue that he has earned it.
      He's sold more than 30 million records since he emerged as part of the country renaissance of 1989, scoring 27 No. 1 songs on his first nine albums. Those hits include "Here In The Real World," "Chattahoochee," "Gone Country," "Right On The Money," "It Must Be Love" and others.
      Jackson has won more than 60 major industry awards for his recording, performances and songwriting, including the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year. Singers from Randy Travis and Clay Walker to Faith Hill and Chely Wright have had hits with his compositions. He is a multi-ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year award winner.
      "I'm danged lucky," Jackson says as he surveys his career. "Oh, man, 10 years. I can't believe I'm still hanging in there. Radio has been great to me. They still play my songs. Fans are still buying my records and coming to concerts. I don't know why it's happening, but I've been real fortunate that I'm still riding."
      There's solid reason behind that long ride.
      "Sure, Jackson's Mr. Traditionalist, but he's also figured out how to make country music reflect real life in the new millennium," suggests Rolling Stone.
      "Moderation has allowed Mr. Jackson to stay on top," says the New York Times. "His fellow torch-bearers, Dwight Yoakam and Randy Travis, have paid commercially for being too arty or schmaltzy. Mr. Jackson, conversely, has made an art of being the strong, silent type."
      "Jackson has succeeded by knowing his audience and delivering music that satisfies both their expectations and his own," adds Billboard.
      "I've been lucky as a songwriter and staying true to the sound I can deliver, staying real and not trying to stretch out too far," Jackson says. "I'd just like the music to come across as honest and real. I'd like people to know it's not a commercial attempt to get success and that I believe in what I'm singing."
      The real reward is writing a song that touches people in a personal way, he says. "Music is entertainment and it's soothing and it helps people through hard times and good times. It's a real healthy part of life."
      At the heart of what the artist does is what Jackson calls "real country."
      And what is that? "Who knows anymore," he answers, laughing. "It's a rootsier type of country that goes back to the type of music that defines country in the beginning: songs about life and simple things, a type of melody and production that goes around string instruments. It always used a steel guitar and a fiddle, a banjo, whateverjust songs that real people, regular people, can identify with."
      It continues to resonate for people, he says, because "it is one of the few forms of music left you can sing along to and understand exactly what they are saying."
      Jackson says that he is not trying to stand on a soapbox with that observation. "It's the truth. I like all forms of music. They all have their place, their own identities, for different reasons and generations."
      Jackson says he can't say that he has been on a mission to keep the focus on country's roots and pioneers. It's just the music to which he gravitated.
      "When I moved to Nashville in 1985 I was a young guy and, like a lot of people I knew, I loved real country stuff. There weren't any young guys kind of carrying that on. It's the kind of music I like and do. It's not like I think everybody should be like that. A lot of people want to hear this kind that I do."
      He is proud that along the way he has been able to bring recognition to some of country's pioneers. His album %Under the Influence% was a collection of country standards. "It was a tribute to those people. I couldn't recognize everybody I wanted to on one album," Jackson says.
      He believes he would have fit into another era of country music. "Every decade has had the country-pop thing goingway back to the 1960s. There's always been all forms of country music. I think I could have fit into any one [with his traditional music]."
      Jackson has been praised as "Nashville's conscience" in his insistence on not ignoring country tradition.
      "I don't think I set out to be," he says. "I didn't really mean to be. I don't speak out that much about it, maybe a song or two now and then. It's just my own personal feelings. I've done the same kind of music from the first album. The sound and production and what I write is really similar."
      It's always been hard, he says, to create traditional-inspired country music that does not sound dated, that will still have a place in a modern radio format. It has always been a challenge to come up with songs and singles that will work at radio and still be a record of which he is proud. "It hasn't changed that much as far as that battle," he adds.
      The artist says he does not sense much pressure to change. "The lucky part about my career is I have been so fortunate and successful. I don't feel like I have to prove anything. I can just do what I want to do. If it works, good, if not, that's too bad." He laughs.
      These days, he admits, his motivation is different. "My whole life has changed in 10 years. When I first started it was just my wife and I and my career swallowing up most of the time. Now we have children and our whole lifestyle has changed. The career is important, but family always comes first."
      He chuckles at what he senses the public perception of him is. "Everybody thinks because I'm doing real country music I'm kind of quiet and laid back. I'm probably not as quiet and laid back as people think. I'm a pretty creative person overall. I'm always thinking and planning and doing something. I don't just sit on the porch."
      Like his lifestyle, country music is going through some changes. Jackson seems to feel the industry will emerge just fine. "It's just cyclical. Generations of listeners come through, they grow up and have children and don't buy records like before, but there's always been a diverse soundfrom what I do to a more pop-rock sound. I think it will continue to be that way. Listeners like the variety."
      There's still more that he wants to accomplish. He's always wanted to make a Southern gospel album and a bluegrass album. "I need to take time and make myself get in the studio long enough to do it," he says. "I don't want to make it if I don't do it right."
      There's not much that Alan Jackson does not do right.
      In this day of mind-boggling stage productions, Jackson remains a standup singer. He agrees that may be a lost art in other formats of music. "There are a lot more choreographed productions, which is fine. It's hard to just walk out there and sing [as he does]. I wouldn't want to see Merle Haggard dancing around." He laughs at the image.
      Jackson tries to win over audiences by just being himself. "I don't tell jokes or anything. I never plan too much. I just talk to people like a friend standing in a room. I try to reach them with normal conversation and mixing up the songs to keep the energy going."
      Audiences can expect to hear a lot of material. "I try to cram every song I can in there. It's hard to do," he says. "We have a pretty good production. I try to use as much video as I can at the big shows so people up high can see. But it's more about the music. I'm not a dancer. There is not a lot of smoke and mirrors. I have a good band. It's hard to find true country players anymore."
      What does this true country artist think can be learned from his career? He laughs, then replies, "I don't knowthat anybody can make it?"
      It really is about being true to yourself, he says. "It's real easy when you are trying to get a record deal or get on radio sometimes to feel you have to do whatever you have to do to get there. But you should try to be proud of your music and focused on what you really want to do."
      Real success isn't record or tickets sales, Jackson suggests. "I believe it is creating music that will be accepted by people. It goes back to doing something that is true to yourself and an honest attempt at your music."
      It is, in essence, the Alan Jackson way of doing things.