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Alan Jackson said Eric Church “brought a little new life” to one of his classic country singles.
Church delivered a rendition of “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow” as a tribute to Jackson at the 17th ACM Honors. Jackson received the Poet’s Award “for outstanding and longstanding musical and/or lyrical contributions throughout their career, with special consideration given to a song or songs’ impact on the culture of Country Music,” per the Academy of Country Music. The show took place last month at the historic Ryan Auditorium in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee, and aired earlier this week.
“Thank you so much, and thank you, Eric. That was a very cool rendition of old ‘Neon Rainbow.’ Brought a little new life to her there. It’s wonderful. Thank you,” Jackson said as he took the podium on the Ryman stage with his wife of more than 40 years, Denise, by his side. Jackson said Denise is “my leaning post in more ways than one tonight.
“I’ve always put songwriting at the top of my list when it comes to making music, and hearing that song tonight about made me tear up back here. It was such a soulful rendition, but it brought back a lot of memories,” Jackson continued during his heartfelt acceptance speech. :Jim McBride and I wrote that song almost 40 years ago down on Music Row, and we were just getting to know each other as writers and he asked me about growing up in Georgia and what I remembered, and I told him when I was about 5 years old, I think, my daddy worked for the Pepsi Cola plant in Newton, Georgia. And they had an employee contest going on, and he won this radio and brought it home. it was one of them big old wooden ones like you set on the counter, you know. And that was the first musical thing I remember growing up, and that ended up being the opening line of that song. I realized a long time ago that life gives you a lot of ingredients for songwriting, and that typically makes the best songs. And I’ve been fortunate to pull a lot of stuff out of my life and turn them into music over the years, and that’s been my biggest pride as an artist, is to write a song and have people enjoy it and be touched by it or moved by it, or help them through a hard time or enjoy a good time. So, I’m so proud of the songwriting part of this, and I just appreciate the opportunity to share all my music with all y’all for so many years. Thank you.”
Jackson dedicated the Poet’s Award to his father and the radio he won years ago.
Jackson was one of several honorees that evening, along with Trisha Yearwood, Lainey Wilson, Tony Brown, Shannon Sanders, Luke Bryan, Walt Aldridge, Chris Stapleton and Jessie Jo Dillon. Other performers who took the stage with heartfelt tributes include Lauren Alaina, Jason Aldean, Lee Ann Womack, Terri Clark, Jackson Dean, Kameron Marlowe, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Tyler Hubbard, Jamey Johnson, Ashley McBryde and Keith Urban.