Country Music Blog: Chuck Wicks

Hey everyone,

Monday night was AMAZING. I am still smiling. My sister and I sat next to my tourmates Jewel and Chuck Wicks, and behind us was James Otto, who tapped me on the shoulder and gave me the "biggest fan" award. I've grown up idolizing these artists, and I actually got to meet most of them, one in particular, Faith Hill, who has inspired me so much. It was an honor meeting her.

It was so much fun being up on that stage. I got to introduce my tourmate, Brad Paisley, with Sara Evans and Josh Turner, who kept making me laugh during rehearsals that day. Not to mention I was pretty nervous. You would think after performing on TV with 30 million people watching each week the nerves would leave. Well, well think again! :)

The performances blew me away, they were all so amazing. I really enjoyed LeAnn Rimes, Sugarland and Keith Urban. I can only hope to perform up there one day. What an unforgettable night!

Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

As most of you may already know, I finally got pranked by Mr. Brad Paisley! It was the last night of the Bonfires and Amplifiers Tour and I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen. I thought that he would just prank Rodney since it was his last night touring with Brad and I would still be out with Brad for the rest of the year. Well, I was wrong!

I was singing "Stealing Cinderella" and before I could even get the first word out I see from the corner of my eye two Cinderellas -- and not your normal pretty sophisticated Cinderellas. They were two men that had grey beards and dresses on that…. well…. didn’t fit so well. Ha ha. They surrounded me while I was singing and hit me on the top of the head with their magic wands, maybe waiting for me to turn into a pumpkin? I don’t know. Needless to say, I was laughing trying to keep a straight face and sing the song. I did eventually make it through and they left the stage very gracefully.

That wasn’t the end of it. Out came the silly string from every angle! I was drenched in pink silly string and so was my entire band. Everyone from the camera crew on stage to the people that worked backstage were armed and ready to get us with silly string. I have to admit it was sadly an HONOR to get pranked by the crew and Brad. I had an amazing time finishing up the Bonfires Tour with Brad and I’m looking forward to this summer. I will be out on tour the whole year on the Paisley Party tour. Jewel and Julianne Hough will be joining us.

I’m officially giving Brad fair warning that payback is in store. After all, like Brad said, "If I don’t prank you, then that means I don’t like you." And Brad… we like you! Ha ha!

Brad Paisley's 2008 tour will feature Jewel, Chuck Wicks and newcomer Julianne Hough. Paisley made the announcement Wednesday night (March 5) during his performance at the Music City Jam, an event connected to the annual Country Radio Seminar taking place in Nashville this week.

The Paisley Party, as the tour's called, begins June 11 in Albuquerque. Some 42 cities are already on the schedule through mid October.

All three acts joined Paisley onstage at the CRS show. Jewel and Wicks both performed, but Hough had to leave to return to Los Angeles to rehearse for Dancing With the Stars. A professional dancer, Hough is working on her first album as a country singer. She's off to a promising start, at least from the standpoint of being signed to a major label -- Mercury Nashville, the home of Sugarland, among others. Hough has released her first single, "That Song in My Head," and will be delivering her debut album in May.

At Wednesday's show, three of the top executives at Paisley's record label -- Arista Nashville -- surprised him with a plaque commemorating his career sales of 10 million albums.

Before offering a more heartfelt display of his appreciation, Paisley looked at the label execs and joked, "Great. I've always wanted to meet you."

We started out the tour with Brad Paisley in Denver which is a beautiful city and the arena is HUGE, so needless to say I was a little nervous or overwhelmed more than anything. I remember the lights going out right before I went out on stage and everyone screaming. But with so many people around me, I found myself backstage in the dark by myself just smiling. I finally had that sense that I was really doing this. I was living out what I had always dreamed about.

I will be starting my fourth week with Brad coming up. Now that I have a sense of how things work, I pretty much do the same thing every day. I wake up to Brad's face on the side of trucks everywhere, do an interview or two over the phone, or sometimes a local news crew will come to the bus, which is always fun. We'll have lunch (the catering is amazing) and then I always love to walk around the arena just to take it all in. I love to watch how all the crew guys and girls set up the stage everyday. It's a lot work but somehow they get it done in just a few hours. Nuts. Kudos to them though! Then we usually have sound check around 5:00 or 5:30 and then the fun begins.

Sound checks in arenas are a blast. The sound just fills the empty arena and you feel and hear everything. It's amazing. Then I grab a quick bite, have a meet-and-greet every day at 6:50 with radio and contest winners, and go on stage every night at 7:30. My band and I wait backstage, get all our guitars tuned up, say a little chant, wait for the light to go out and then we rock the house! Ha ha. I have to say YOU guys have been amazing! You're on your feet. You love country music and it shows, so THANK YOU! You make it that much more fun for me and my band.

As soon as I get off stage I have the biggest adrenaline rush and it usually takes me all night to wind down. I'll go to the bus, change clothes and then I usually watch Brad's show, which I recommend to anyone. Right around 10:45, I change clothes again and get ready for the meet-and-greet, which I do every single night as soon as Brad gets off stage. Why? Because I love meeting every single one of you. And you guys are blowing me away with how amazing you are. I always get real nervous right before going up to the meet-and-greet line because I always have this weird feeling that no one will show, but you guys rock. So thank you for staying with me after to hang out.

When the day finally comes to an end, I am actually still winding down after meeting all of you, and finally crash around 3 a.m. I then get up and do it all over again and LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT! Make sure to check out my next blog. I wanted to fill you in on what I do generally on the tour this time. Now stay tuned for all the stories that no one ever gets to hear. You know, the good stuff! Ha ha.

Your friend,
Chuck Wicks