CMT Blog: Brad Paisley

For years I've been curious about the CMA Songwriters Series in New York City and since it coincided with this trip, I caught the early show last night (Nov. 5) at Joe's Pub. The lineup was pretty remarkable: host Bob DiPiero, Jessi Alexander, Jon Randall and Mark D. Sanders. DiPiero opened with "Blue Clear Sky," co-written by Sanders and recorded by George Strait. On his next time through, he played "Southern Voice," the new single from Tim McGraw. Randall offered a new song he co-wrote with Brad Paisley and Bill Anderson, "If You Can't Make Money, Make Love," an incredibly catchy and fun tune. Sanders told the audience that songwriters always know they're onto something when the crowd sings along with a song they've never heard before, which is exactly what happened.

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The résultats are in. And I have to agree with the country music lovers in France. Sara Evans is quite the meilleure chanteuse. At the recent 7th Annual French Country Music Awards, Evans was named Female Vocalist of the year. Alan Jackson won the best male vocalist prize. And Brad Paisley took top entertainer, musician and album awards. Zac Brown Band, Kenny Chesney and Mac McAnally, John Rich and Ricky Skaggs were also in the winner's circle. I'm half French, so it sort of makes sense that I would have the same tastes in good American country music as fans who are 100 percent French. Plus, this list of winners helps open my mind a little to accept the fact that country music has so much international appeal. And that sometimes, a country star can come from outside the U.S. Keith Urban is a daily reminder of that.

Today is All Souls' Day. So at the early Mass this morning, my priest asked us all to help the faithful departed get through the pearly gates by praying for them. And pray we did. But as I was thinking about all the people in my life who are now resting in peace, I couldn't help but think of all the songs that seem to celebrate the mournful moments as well as the celebratory moments. So many seem to capture tragic loss, and so many are good at extolling the virtues of eternal life. Feel free to add to the list.

"Go Rest High on That Mountain," Vince Gill
"Who You'd Be Today," Kenny Chesney
"When I Get Where I'm Going," Brad Paisley
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Sorry, ladies. Brad Paisley called into a Grand Rapids, Mich., radio station and gave them a big fat "no." They had asked him what he was going to tell Playgirl magazine. "I've actually turned that down," he said. "They've asked a few times, and no. They can forget it. They ask everybody. They ask every male country singer. Trust me. No. No way. Not in a million years. That's ridiculous. That's just not what I'm about." He also says there are probably fantastic articles in the magazine that has run pictures of Keith Urban and Billy Currington in the past. Why is he so determined to keep all his clothes on? "I've got a lot of fans that are teenage girls here and there, and I don't want them buying that magazine just because I'm in it," he said.

What I love most about songwriters' awards shows is that they reveal just how brilliant the people are behind the songs. Like how one guy, Ashley Gorley, wrote Trace Adkins' "You're Gonna Miss This," Brad Paisley and Keith Urban's "Start a Band" and Darius Rucker's "It Won't Be Like This for Long." Three of THE BEST country songs in the past year. So as he should be, he was awarded the songwriter of the year award at Monday (Oct. 19) night's American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers' (ASCAP) country music awards. Writers like Gorley are the reason I love country music. He can take me from literally crying about how my kids are growing up way too fast to laughing about how easy it would be to grow out my hair and cut up my jeans and start a band. So thank you, Ashley Gorley, for helping me experience a full range of emotions five minutes at a time.

Photo credit : Ed Rode

Is it not enough anymore just to be stars on country radio? With three major singers announcing three big television projects this week alone, I'm wondering what the big deal is. Money, I'm sure. And fame. And exposure to new would-be fans. I mean, think of all the fans who will see Brad Paisley on CW, Carrie Underwood on FOX and Taylor Swift on Saturday Night Live who might not be country radio listeners. And this doesn't even include the long line of country artists who have been popping up on late-night talk shows and morning news programs lately. Don't get me wrong. I love the trend and am the first one to park myself on the couch when these shows come on. I'm just curious why it's happening for country stars and not other musicians. Lady Ga Ga's not hosting a Christmas special. Jay-Z isn't working on a documentary. And last time I checked, no one was asking other 19-year-old singer/songwriters to host SNL.

Just because Brad Paisley's all clean-cut doesn't mean all the country stars need to be. Right? But Paisley took to Twitter to take a few good-hearted jabs at Keith Urban before they took the stage together for the We're All for the Hall show to benefit Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. I don't spend a lot of time on Twitter but almost 70,000 people are following Paisley and probably got a kick out of his thread of funny remarks about Urban. Like: "Get to jam with an up N coming young Australian guitarist 2night named, um, can't remember," "Starts with a 'k' I think, anyway, he's got potential ... Karl? Kelvin? Ken? ... Rural ... rural's the last name, I'm sure of that." And then: "Feel so stupid. His name is Keith Urban. Guess he's some sort of big deal. Certainly amazingly talented, great guy. Needs a haircut though." But by the end of the show he got all serious, tweeting "Hope they raised a lot of money tonight. Really was a blast."

Boy, those folks over at the Village Voice sure like to hear themselves talk. They go on and on and on about every little thing. But when they're talking about Brad Paisley, that's a good thing.

There probably aren't enough adjectives in the biggest thesaurus to describe Paisley's music, so I think they took to making some up. Like how five years ago he was "just another neo-trad blando in a white hat" and how his early work was kind of "reams of shrug-worthy high-lonesome slow-song snooze." And, surprisingly, I think this writer is actually fond of Paisley's music because he describes "Alcohol" as a "lighter booze-narrated waltz" and "Ticks" as an "outdoor-sex itch-scratcher." He adds that Paisley's guitar playing includes a variety of styles, like "festering Muzak voluptuousness." Whatever that is.

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Here's a nifty, low-budget video from Jer Coons, a young singer-songwriter from Vermont. I like the tune and I have a feeling that Taylor Swift's legion of fans will embrace it, too. Coons says his favorite country artists are Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Chet Atkins and Nickel Creek -- which makes for a fun mix. He's about to launch a tour behind his brand new album, Speak, with many of the shows open to all ages. With a smile like that, I have a feeling he'll be especially popular with the college coeds.

How did I not know about this? There is this place called ticketsforcharity.com where you can get concert tickets AND give to charity. It's beyond brilliant. I know I bitch plenty about the price of good seats, but now that I know I could do a little good with that extra cash, it somehow makes it all better. Like if I wanted to see Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley and Jimmy Wayne next week in Phoenix, I'd pay around $82 for a really good seat but then $25 would go to charity. (In that case, it would go to Team 25: The Shjon Podein Children's Foundation, but it looks like the charity depends on the artist). Or I could get tickets to see Brooks & Dunn in Alpine, Calif., and $20 of my $80 seat would go to their charity. From now on, when I have to buy tickets, I'm shopping here first.

Photo credit: Ed Rode