Country music star Alan Jackson plays at Tacoma Dome

Alan Jackson is the real deal. He's a genuine Southern gentleman, with a quiet intensity in his music and performances. Usually wearing a white cowboy hat, Western shirt, faded jeans and cowboy boots, he's the epitome of country music in look and sound.

Jackson comes to the T-Dome tonight on the boot heels of his latest, and one of his best, albums, "Good Time." It's his 17th but the first for which he wrote all the songs — 17 cuts and 71 minutes of real country.

The first breakout hit from the album, "Small Town Southern Man," is pure Jackson. Inspired by his father, it's a poetic portrait of a hard-working man with "callused hands" whose family is his legacy. Coming from other Nashville songwriters, the sentiment might be cloying, but Jackson finds just the right tone to make the song believable.

Jackson is known for fun-loving tunes like "Chattahoochee" and "Don't Rock the Jukebox," and he serves up more on the new disc, including the title tune, "Country Boy"; "1976"; "Laid Back 'N Low Key (Cay)"; and "Never Loved Before," a rip-roaring duet with Martina McBride.

Jackson gets more serious on "Sissy's Song" (about a friend who died young); "If Jesus Walked the World Today" ("He'd probably be a hillbilly"); and "I Still Like Bologna," a lighthearted look at celebrity.

The new disc marks Jackson's return to traditional country, following last year's hit albums, the inspirational collection "Precious Memories" and the Grammy-nominated bluegrass album "Like Red on a Rose," for which he paired with the great Alison Krauss.

Jackson has sold some 49 million recordings, including 31 No. 1 country hits, so he has plenty of repertoire to draw from for tonight's show.

Opening is another real, gritty, genuine country singer, Miranda Lambert, whose latest CD is "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend." Sassy and lots of fun, the disc went to No. 1 on the Billboard country chart and is still in the Top 20 52 weeks later.

Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com