Rod Jackson gave up on Nashville but is making a comeback right at home

He rejected a chance at fame for family life but never truly quit music

Image | Rod Jackson

Caption: Rod Jackson is giving his music career another chance. (Mark Cumby/CBC)

There was a point in Rod Jackson's life when he had it all.
A house, wife and two kids, great job — and a blossoming career as a country singer, complete with managers, awards and music videos. He even had plans to take Nashville by storm, hoping to become something like the Garth Brooks of Newfoundland.
But then it all fell apart.
"I said, do I really want to travel to some hotel room in god-knows-where, and not be able to see my daughter going to class in the mornings?" Jackson told Here & Now's Debbie Cooper.
"I couldn't do it."

Image | rod jackson

Caption: The country singer once dreamed of Nashville. Now he's back — on a Christmas tour across Newfoundland. (Submitted by Alick Tsui)

So Jackson went quiet for nearly a decade, retreating to a more conventional life as a sales manager with kids to raise and hanging up his cowboy hat, seemingly for good.
But in recent months, the Grand Falls-Windsor native joined a new band and plotted a holiday tour. This time around — although dreams of Nashville have faded — he's more excited than ever, Jackson said.

Unplanned stardom

As just one more country singer vying for stardom, Jackson's greatest hook was arguably his backstory.
A working-class Newfoundlander whose mother died young, he overcame his struggles, he would say, comforted by his late mother's memory.

Image | rod jackson

Caption: A difficult upbringing didn't stop Jackson from seeking fame and fortune on the southern music circuit. (Submitted by Rod Jackson)

It was a sentiment captured in his song She Still Guides Me.
Jackson also grappled with chronic illness, diagnosed with arthritis in his early 20s.
But the bad news led to his first stage performance for an Arthritis Society fundraiser. His talent eventually landed him spots on festival lineups, nabbed him bigger tours, and generated lots of exposure. "All of a sudden, all these wonderful things were happening," Jackson said.
MusicNL dubbed him country artist of the year in 2005.
"That was all great," he said, smiling, "but after you've had managers for a few years, telling you where to go, and how to get there, and how to sing, and what shirt to wear, I said, I'm too independent. I'm too stubborn to put up with that."

Quitting, but not for good

Showbiz, Jackson said, required an element of egomania and didn't suit him. So he settled into family life instead, happily giving up on the country music dream.
"It just stopped being fun for me. I didn't have the joy that I had had in the beginning, to perform and to play," he said. "I never regretted it. Not one bit."
Jackson put out a gospel album in 2009, avoiding the spotlight but still wrangling another MusicNL award.
Over a decade after retreating from the industry, Jackson took to the stage once again, this time with a crew of musicians just as eager to play right at home.
Rod Jackson and the Perfect Strangers played Grand Falls-Windsor's Salmon Festival earlier this year.

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Now that the kids are grown and Nashville is off the table, Jackson says, he can focus on fun.
"I always knew I would be back," Jackson said. "I never put it away forever."
Rod Jackson and the Perfect Strangers kick off their December circuit with Christmas songs borrowed from country music favourites, including Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.
The Christmas in the Country tour stops in Corner Brook, Gander, Grand Falls-Windsor and St. John's.
Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador(external link)