I probably have an unhealthy love of Brad Paisley. I will admit it. Every track on every CD he's ever released is worth listening to as far as I'm concerned.
The fact that Brad is married to Father of the Bride's Kimberly Williams doesn't hurt. He also named one of his children after Huckleberry Finn, is friends with Carrie Underwood, funny on Twitter and not too bad to look at either!
Some of his songs are funny, like Alcohol. Some of them are incredibly beautiful and thoughtful, like When I Get Where I'm Going.
Last fall, in a special with ABC's Robin Roberts, Brad talked about losing most of his touring gear in the Nashville floods. He was upset about the loss, but was also keeping it in perspective. His team rushed to replace everything before they hit the road again. Before they got on the tour bus, Brad gathered his team around to thank them for their hard work. And he cried. It was one of the most genuine expressions of appreciation I have ever seen.
I've never seen Brad Paisley perform live, but I always watch when he performs on TV. I've seen a lot of great performances from him, but my all-time favorite is This Is Country Music from the 2010 Country Music Awards.
Brad had never played the song for anyone before. As he sang the first lines, "You're not supposed to say the word cancer in a song...", the auditorium grew silent.
As Brad continued to sing about country music, the crowd cheered. He even got choked up as he sang about patriotism. It was such a real moment. The crowd went wild when he sang lines from iconic country songs as images of Johnny Cash and the like flashed on the screen behind the band.
After the CMAs, people went wild for the song. The only problem was Brad hadn't released it yet! He rushed into the studio to get the single ready and then offered a free download of the song on his website.
The best thing to me about Brad Paisley is that he manages to modernize country music while still honoring the legends and traditions of the genre. In the process, he has become a country music icon himself. And I can't wait to see him on February 18 in Roanoke!
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