Feb
16
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.
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Jan
8
Miranda Lambert photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
Figures don’t lie, but liars can figure. So they say. And “White Liar” figured prominently in the annual Nashville Scene country music critics poll, taking the scribes’ honor as the top single of 2009. It’s one of three categories Miranda Lambert dominated in a vote that does its best to tab quality over sheer sales volume.
Miranda’s Revolution, the disc that spawned “Liar,” was cited as the Top Album in the poll, compiled from rankings supplied by 77 country journalists. Accordingly, Miranda earned Top Female Vocalist in the process.
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Dec
28
On Tuesday, July 21, 2009 Brad Paisley performed for the President, First Lady and family, members of Congress and White House staff in the historic East Room of the White House. Photo credit Ben Enos.
#4 on GAC’s Top Stories of 2009 | View all »
The inauguration of Barack Obama put an emotional start on 2009 as America installed its first African-American president, and country had a role in that event. But it was just the start of a relationship between country and the new commander in chief: Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, Charley Pride and Alison Krauss + Union Station would also sing for the world’s most powerful man as the year unfolded.
Garth Brooks and Jennifer Nettles had high-profile moments in January when they performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in “We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration.” Garth delivered several of his hits, including “We Shall Be Free,” a song that was inspired by the 1992 Los Angeles riots in the wake of the racially divisive Rodney King verdict. Jennifer teamed with James Taylor and John Legend for a version of “Shower The People,” performed in front of a row of American flags.
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Dec
3
Brad Paisley on the set of "Welcome To The Future". Photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
As a kid growing up in Altoona, Iowa — a very white suburb of Des Moines, I had almost no firsthand exposure to the racial divide that newspapers and the TV news regularly referenced in the 1970s.
Until I began working in Des Moines at the age of 16, the main way I learned about the issue was through Stevie Wonder albums. In songs such as “Living For The City,” “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” and “Cash In Your Face,” Stevie described the unfairness of being denied work or shelter because of an arbitrary physical trait — skin color — and I got an education through music that was not present on the street where I lived.
Tuesday was the anniversary of Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a bus to a Caucasian man. The date went by with little fanfare, though the results of her noble revolution can now be seen in country music, where she’s referenced in not just one, but two hits from the last six months: Brad Paisley’s “Welcome To The Future” and Tim McGraw’s “Southern Voice.”
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Nov
3
On Tuesday, July 21, 2009 Brad Paisley performed for the President, First Lady and family, members of Congress and White House staff in the historic East Room of the White House. Photo credit Ben Enos.
Tuesday is Election Day in many parts of the U.S., and the week is a monumental anniversary as well: Barack Obama was voted the nation’s first African-American president on Nov. 4, 2008.
That same date marked the release of Brad Paisley’s Play album, and he couldn’t have created better timing if he’d planned it. He was in New York to promote the CD the day the nation went to the polls, and he witnessed hysterical celebration in Times Square. That helped inspire his song “Welcome To The Future,” which hit No. 1 this anniversary week in Country Aircheck.
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Oct
23
Brad Paisley photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
Every person is a summation of life’s experiences, everything that’s happened in his or her past. Brad Paisley has made a living by connecting the dots between the past and the present through much of his career — most notably on his current “Welcome To The Future.”
That song ties technology, global politics and racial advances in one well-written portrait of contemporary America, but it’s hardly the only time he’s tackled the subject. His first hit, “Who Needs Pictures,” used photographs of a past relationship to portray a broken heart; “Letter To Me” made a connection between the adult Brad and the teenage version; and his ballad “Then” — currently nominated for the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year — puts the early years of his marriage in context with its current state.
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