CMT Blog: Tim McGraw

Sandra Bullock. Faith Hill. It doesn't matter who she is, Tim McGraw just wants to be around women who rule. In his new movie, The Blind Side, Bullock plays his wife who takes charge of every situation. McGraw tells Parade.com that he was at home with that. "In our family, my wife Faith Hill is very much in control of our life. She works out everybody's schedule. I wouldn't be able to function without her. So I can totally relate to a wife like that, and I feel that it is a blessing for me because I would be a mess without her giving me that kind of structure." How nice is that? While some men (my own husband, for one) would find a take-charge woman controlling, McGraw says Hill's a blessing. The article is about way more than the way the McGraw/Hill household is run, but to me, that says it all. That, and the fact that he made the list of the hottest celebs in the upcoming Sexiest Man Alive issue of People.

That's what he said. "I couldn't go pop with an ass full of firecrackers," were the exact words Tim McGraw used in an interview on the Dan Patrick Show. They talk incessantly about sports, Peyton Manning, the potential of coaching at LSU and what his "man cave" looks like. (Recliner and 72-inch flat screen and not much else.) But eventually they get around to talking about music. McGraw admits he's a huge '70s rock fan. He said he likes to play the Eagles, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, the Little River Band and Led Zeppelin. Of his daughters, McGraw admits, "They're not fans of my music. They're good girls, but dad's just uncool to them." Oh, yeah, he also talks about how great his new movie, The Blind Side, is.

I really want to plead the fifth on this topic. But the comments just won't stop coming on Taylor Swift's recent CMA entertainer of the year win. So I will say nothing this time, and let some country artists do the talking via a feature in People magazine:

Faith Hill: "I think she worked her tail off the last couple [of years] and she deserves to win."

Tim McGraw: "I've been doing this a long time, and she's got a better head on her shoulders than I do, so I don't know how anybody could complain about that."

Randy Travis: "As a writer, she is a phenomenal talent. When you look at the body of work that she has written at the age when she came into this business, it's remarkable. It really is. But do I think that entertainer of the year might have been a little early? In my opinion, yes, for whatever that's worth."

Photo credit: Rick Diamond/Getty Images

Remember how on the CMA Awards red carpet, all the country stars were autographing a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS? Well that car can be yours for the low, low price of $30,500 -- or more, assuming the bidding stays active until it closes tomorrow evening. But it's for a good cause. Whatever you pay for the car (100 percent of it) will go to the USO. The USO serves the religious, spiritual, social, welfare, educational and entertainment needs of service members and their families around the world. And you don't have to worry about driving in inclement weather in a car covered with autographs. You actually get the car AND the hood full of about 100 signatures from celebs and artists like Jake Owen, Brad Paisley, Sugarland, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Faith Hill, Billy Currington, Vince Gill, Martina McBride, Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum. It may be a little hard to showcase such a large piece of country music memorabilia but I'm guessing anyone who can afford the car can afford a proper display.

Photo credit: Theresa Montgomery/CMA

Technically I was not invited. Nor were a lot of Tim McGraw fans. But now that it's on the air and online, we can at least feel like we were there for this Invitation Only show. What I love most about McGraw's voice, especially at this show, is that it sounds like velvet. That's a standout right now when so many male country singers are putting a little more gravel and a few more growls in their voices. These shows have such a perfect balance of new and old, too. So you get to hear "Southern Voice" and another moving new one, "You Had to Be There." But there's no shortage of vintage McGraw: "For a Little While," Real Good Man" and "The Cowboy in Me." I also love the way his big Dancehall Doctors band surrounds him in a semi-circle. And the way he answers audience questions so candidly, like how when they're on stage, they see 30,000 people yet they all remember when there were only 30 people.

The CMA Awards are always entertaining, and this year's event was no different. I do want to say that Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood infusing their hosting duties Wednesday night (Nov. 11) with some music was a welcome addition. Taylor Swift's opening performance was rockin' -- even for Taylor. I admit I'm a little speechless. Congrats to Lady Antebellum for their wins for single and vocal group of the year and to Jamey Johnson for his song of the year win ("In Color"). The Zac Brown Band's performance of Charlie Daniels' "Devil Went Down to Georgia" was probably the most fun to watch  -- especially since he did the version with the "old lyrics" -- and how about that fiddle solo?

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Everyone has been so focused on who the CMA entertainer of the year award will go to tonight (Nov. 11), but what about who it's coming from? It's an important job to bestow that award on a fellow artist. And I can't think of a better couple than Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. McGraw himself knows a thing or two about being an EOTY. He won it back in 2001, along with countless other CMA Awards. And while Hill has never been named EOTY by the CMA, she has been honored enough times to deserve the right to stand up there with McGraw and hand it to the lucky winner. Now the only question is, who? Kenny Chesney? Brad Paisley? Keith Urban? Taylor Swift? Or George Strait? We won't know until just before 11 p.m. ET/PT. But feel free to leave you best guess here.

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.

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.

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