CMT Blog: Faith Hill

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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When Faith Hill was on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday (Nov. 2), I knew she'd probably talk about her new parfum. But what I didn't know is that she would also be giving away her secrets for staying in such fabulous shape. And they are: cardio, elliptical, Pilates, old-fashioned lunges, chasing after three kids and picking up Tim McGraw's laundry. Well, technically, she didn't call that last one exercise. But she did say that in the new home they just built, she tried to make it easier for her hubby to actually put his own laundry in the hamper but that it hasn't really worked out quite the way she wanted. "One thing I did try to do was put the hamper in his closet, a little closer to where he might actually hit it occasionally," she said. So I guess that means that even after selling 40 million albums, McGraw is just another mere mortal who leaves dirty socks on the floor.

Toby Keith and the tag team match of Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins head up a batch of seven videos that were screened by the CMT New Music Video Evaluation Team. Joe Nichols says goodbye to a dear old friend of his. Bucky Covington takes a rock song live. Gene Watson and Rhonda Vincent look at a sad family situation. John Fogerty remembers the Everly Brothers. And you can meet the new sister group, the McClymonts.

Artist: Toby Keith
Video: "Cryin' for Me"
Director: Michael Salamon

Toby Keith has written a song and a video tribute to his late friend, basketball great and jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale. He says goodbye to his friend in a very personal way.

Panelists' comments: "Damn, that was sad." "But so sweet." "Amen ... what can you say." "I think he did a great job with it."

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If for no other reason, getting a flu shot is good for staying totally dialed in to all things country. Because while I was waiting for mine, I ran across this story in Reader's Digest and learned some new things about Tim McGraw. Like how he thinks his voice isn't all that special. ("I'm not a virtuoso. I just do it my way," he said.) And how he can't live without family, exercise and Italian food. He also talks about how good his wife Faith Hill is at making the traditional Southern Thanksgiving meal, how he sings "Hotel California" in the shower, how he watches a ton of football, how he might want to remake the football movie North Dallas Forty someday, that he cries during commercials because he's half Irish and, lastly, how one of his favorite times of day is bedtime because that's when he and Faith get into bed and breathe.

She's not shaming anyone into volunteering their time. She's just kind of encouraging it. Faith Hill is telling you to work as one, create something beautiful, start again, ease a burden and provide hope where there was none. Sounds easy enough, right? But to make it even easier, this group Hill has teamed up with -- iParticipate -- gives you actual times and places of where you can carry out her advice. So, say you live in Boston. You could go a couple of mornings this week to Rosie's Place to tutor homeless women or teach English as a second language. And this Web site lists a million other ways you can help, wherever you are. Not just the quit-your-job-and-join-the-Peace-Corps ways, but manageable ways so you can fit creating good into your schedule no matter how busy you get.

Don't read the Wall Street Journal? Not to worry. I have found the Tim McGraw interview online and will share with you what I consider to be the major highlight. There's a lot about the music industry, Faith Hill and the kind of songs he should be singing now that he's in his next 40 years. Then there's this: "When I first started, I was really nervous. You could hear my voice quiver. So I started drinking a bit and that helped. A lot of entertainers have a few drinks before going onstage and don't overdo it. Me, it turned into a bigger habit. But I stopped that. I was getting older, and I was thinking about my kids," he says. He adds that getting sober has been a work in progress three or four years, but he has been completely done for over a year. "I think I'm more comfortable now. I can feel a real connection with the audience that maybe I was masking before."

I know we're supposed to hate beautiful-looking people just because they're beautiful, but in the first of these Webisodes that Faith Hill is doing, I have to say she comes off very likable. She's sitting around with four women who are all talking about feeling beautiful in very touchy-feely terms. But not Hill. She says, "I feel most beautiful when I'm ... clean." Then she admits that sometimes she goes a week without washing her hair. That sounds real to me, and I like real. The Web site is set up to promote her new perfume. Sorry, "parfum." But it has some really solid advice from Hill on things like what to do when you're questioning your inner or outer beauty (think about all the things you're good at and then take a bath). And it ends with a quote from Hill saying, "We're sexy, funny, strong, athletic and courageous. And we do it all while looking fabulous." I'm not sure we all look quite as fabulous as she does, but it's nice of her to group us all together like that.

If you were in Las Vegas Saturday night (Sept. 26) and were lucky enough to snag an invite to the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy fundraiser, then you know how good the show was. I wasn't one of the chosen few, but now that I can see the pictures and the lineup, I so wish I was. Tim McGraw headlined, along with Daughtry and the funniest man alive, Dane Cook. Even Faith Hill was there. And it looks like McGraw and rocker Chris Daughtry did some kind of duet. I could definitely see the two of them nailing Daughtry's "Over You" together, but I could also picture them on McGraw's new "Southern Voice." Either way, I'm sure it was a fantastic show for a good cause.

A new Web site is on the verge of launching to promote Faith Hill's debut fragrance and on it, there's a video of Hill asking you to celebrate the beauty of being a woman. Hmmm. The beauty of being a woman? That could mean so many things. Let's see. We can give birth! We are nurturing! We can wear pretty clothes! We look good in high heels! Or could the "beauty of being a woman" be that we are just the very antithesis of men? That we don't have to shave our beards, take out the trash, clean the gutters or have the burden of being the most likely breadwinner? I'm sure the fragrance celebrates both kinds of beauty. From the looks of the outside of the bottle, with its little black grosgrain ribbon, there's a whole lot of pretty inside.

By now, everyone probably knows Taylor Swift has been nominated for the CMA entertainer of the year award. And if you've ever been to one of her concerts, you know why. She doesn't just sing. She pours her heart and soul and charm and sense of humor into every minute she spends on stage. I've never seen her do a show where she's just going through the motions. But what did surprise me about this nomination is that she's the first solo female singer to even be nominated in nine long years. In 2000, Faith Hill was nominated, and in 1999 Shania Twain actually won it. Nine years is too long. I hope Swift paves the way for more top-tier female talent. And if she does win, let's not wait a decade before another female takes home that EOTY trophy.