Brad Paisley photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

One trick psychologists employ to make their clients recognize their personal progress is to have them look back a year — or five or 10 — to compare where they were emotionally against where they are now. Looking back is a technique that Brad Paisley has used to craft such hits as “Welcome To The Future,” “Letter To Me” and “Then,” and when he puts it to work in evaluating his career, it yields an amazing contrast.

Back in 1999, when Brad released his first single and album, he travelled in a van, sometimes driving himself to the gig with his band members and the equipment all piled in the vehicle. Once they got to the venue, it was as if nobody knew — or cared — who he was.

“We’d go on at 1 in the afternoon at [a festival], and it wouldn’t matter,” he told The Orange County Register. “I’d just wear a ball cap and go out and set the pedal board down. Then I’d walk to the side and change my hat and wait to be announced. I could’ve announced myself and no one would’ve known the difference. I could’ve said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Brad Paisley,’ and they would’ve looked to my right to see who Brad Paisley is.”

Now Brad is one of country’s real superstars. He’s headlined at Madison Square Garden, and on Friday, he’s the main attraction for the very first time at the renowned Staples Center in Los Angeles. Darius Rucker, who sold 16 million copies of one album as the lead singer for Hootie + The Blowfish, has opened for Brad.

“I can’t believe the size of the buildings I’m playing,” he said. “Somebody asked me the other day: Was this the goal — was this the level you wanted to reach? I didn’t even know this was a level!”

When he goes back to then, “the absolute be-all end-all,” he said, “was just to have a tour bus.”

In the now, he’s got nine buses on the American Saturday Night Tour with two current hitmakers — Miranda Lambert and Justin Moore — opening for him. And he’s got other people to drive those buses, too.

To add to it, “American Saturday Night” just became his 12th straight single to top one of the major charts. Look for Brad Wednesday on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

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