CMT Blog: Tim McGraw

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.

Read more...

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.

I was always a big fan of Julie Roberts, right from the get-go. She was cute, sweet and likeable. But she also had a badass edge to her voice that gave her music a little less perk and a lot more depth. Like on "Break Down Here." What a song that was: "Everything I own's in the back in a Hefty bag/I'm out of cigarettes and I'm down to my last drag." Sounds pretty desperate coming from her. But it sounds just as haunting coming from the tall drink of water that is Trace Adkins.

Read more...

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
Read more...

You have to wait 12 more days until the actual special premieres on Nov. 10. But right this minute you can get some very cool behind-the-scenes interview footage from In The Spotlight With Robin Roberts on ABC. She went down south to get the inside scoop on Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw and more. But in a special section on their Web site today are great mini-clips with plenty of stand-out moments. Like Underwood telling Roberts, "I remember the day people started treating me differently. You say to yourself, 'I'm thirsty,' and somebody brings you water." And then McGraw giving Roberts a tour of his 900-acre farm and the big old house where he and his Dancehall Doctors rehearse. Then she even gets a few stars to sing bits of their favorite country songs: Reba McEntire does Steve Wariner's "The Weekend," Darius Rucker does Radney Foster's "Easier Said Than Done," and Underwood does "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On" by Mel McDaniel, a fellow native of Checotah, Okla.

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.

It was unofficially Tim McGraw Day everywhere yesterday (Oct. 20), because of his Southern Voice album release. But in Illinois, it was very officially Tim McGraw Day.

At Tuesday night's (Oct. 20) album release party in Chicago, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn took the little honky-tonk stage with McGraw to do more than just give him a pat on the back. The governor, a very devoted country music fan, gave a speech about why McGraw was worthy of a day to call his own and how he wanted to recognize McGraw's outstanding support of our veterans, service members and their families.

Read more...

This week, for me and thousands just like me, is all about Tim McGraw. His long-awaited album, Southern Voice, comes out Tuesday (Oct. 20), and even better, I get to see him in concert on that same day. It's one of those intimate album-release shows at a small Chicago bar. You'd think that that would mean he'd play all the tracks off the new album. But sometimes, the artist at these shows does old stuff, too. And since I haven't heard much from McGraw's new album, I've been thinking about what other songs of his I love that he may or may not play. And they make up my entire Top 10 list today.

"For a Little While"
"Just to See You Smile"
"Telluride"
Read more...

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."

A total of nine new music videos flooded the CMT New Music Video Evaluation Team this week, as CMT launches its New Music Weekend. Fresh work comes from Sugarland, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Michelle Branch, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Reba, and Billy Currington. So, out of that whole bunch, which one do you watch first? We'll never tell. In no particular order:

Artist: Carrie Underwood
Video: "Cowboy Casanova'"
Director: Theresa Wingert

Carrie Underwood's first single from her upcoming album, Play On, is a lush and brash song and video. The latter finds Carrie wearing a series of elaborate outfits and presiding over a flock of dancing girls in what some viewers see as a dancehall and others interpret as a fancy bordello.

Panelists comments: "Very impressive." "I love those gorgeous outfits." "A very good-looking video."

Read more...