For the Reporter

Country superstar Alan Jackson brings his Keepin’ It Country Tour to the Washington State Fair on Saturday, Sept. 17, part of the fair’s Columbia Bank Concert Series.

Tickets for the concert in Puyallup go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 19.

Tickets will start selling by phone (888) 559-FAIR (3247) daily, 7 a.m.-8 p.m., or on the fair website. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the fair’s box office at 9th Ave Southwest and Meridian Street on Saturdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Tickets are $85 (Golden Circle), $65 and $50, and include fair gate admission. Online and phone purchases are subject to standard processing fees. Tickets purchased on site will be charged a $2 per ticket service fee.

The artist

The man from rural Newnan, Ga., who claims he is just a “singer of simple songs,” has sold nearly 60 million albums worldwide and ranks as one of the 10 best-selling male vocalists of all-time in all genres.

He has released more than 60 singles – registering 50 Top Ten hits and 35 No. 1s (including 26 Billboard chart-toppers). He has earned more than 150 music industry awards – including 18 Academy of Country Music Awards, 16 Country Music Association Awards, a pair of Grammys and ASCAP’s Founders and Golden Note Awards.

Jackson received the first-ever ASCAP Heritage Award in 2014 having earned the title of most-performed country music songwriter-artist of ASCAP’s first 100 years. He is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry.

Jackson is one of the most successful and respected singer-songwriters in music. He is in the elite company of Paul McCartney and John Lennon among songwriters who’ve written more than 20 songs that they’ve recorded and taken to the top of the charts.

Jackson is one of the best-selling artists since the inception of SoundScan, ranking alongside the likes of Eminem and Metallica. Jackson’s current album, Angels and Alcohol, topped the country album charts when it was released last summer. He is also the subject of a new box set, Genuine: The Alan Jackson Story, available now.

State fair

The Washington State Fair is one of the biggest fairs in the world, and the largest in the Pacific Northwest. It started in 1900 in Puyallup, and welcomes more than one million guests to the single largest attended event in the state.

Star-studded entertainment, the PRCA Rodeo, rides, exhibits, food, flowers and animals are mainstays of the 21-day event that kicks off the Friday of Labor Day weekend.

For more info about the Sept. 2-25 fair (closed Tuesdays), visit www.thefair.com.

DATE, PERFORMANCE, TIME, PRICES (including fair gate)

Sept. 4 – Tim McGraw (country), 7:30 p.m., $350 VIP package, $250 VIP package, $95, $85

Sept. 9 – Rodeo playoffs, Friday matinee, 1 p.m., $18, $5*

Sept. 9 – Rodeo playoffs with Thompson Square concert (country), 6:30 p.m., $40 Golden Saddle, $30; standing in dirt,concert, $35

Sept. 10 – Rodeo playoffs, Saturday matinee, 1 p.m., $30 Golden Saddle; $20

Sept. 10 – Rodeo playoffs with Chris Janson concert (country), 6:30 p.m., $40 Golden Saddle, $30; standing in dirt concert, $35

Sept. 11 – Rodeo, Puyallup finals, 1 p.m., $35 Golden Saddle; $25

Sept. 12 – for King & Country and Matt Maher (Christian), 7:30 p.m., $46 Golden Circle, $36, $26

Sept. 17 – Alan Jackson’s Keepin’ It Country Tour (country), 7:30 p.m. $85 Golden Circle, $65, $50

Sept. 22 – Dierks Bentley (country), 7:30 p.m., $100 Golden Circle, $80, $65, pre-show dinner $38

Sept. 25 – Train, with special guest MAGIC! (pop), 7:30 p.m., $75 Golden Circle, $65, $50

* Friday 1 p.m. rodeo does not include fair gate admission. Gates are open free from 10 a.m.-noon.