Tim McGraw Launches New Album
Tim McGraw is doing a full court press this week to launch his new album “Sundown Heaven Town.” Sunday night, Tim hosted a small gathering of radio friends at a restaurant south of Nashville where he performed several songs from the album, including the current single “Shotgun Rider.” Wife Faith Hill was also there, as well as songwriters responsible for the 15 songs on the album. Tim co-wrote one song, “Keep On Truckin,'” which he also performed.
The next morning, Tim was up early, talking to radio stations around the country. He’s obviously very proud and very excited about the new album. “The thing I like about this record is it covers where my career has been, and pushes the boundaries of where my career is headed. It’s a microcosm in one album of my career from beginning to now, with a look ahead. You’ve got stuff like Looking For That Girl and I’m Feelin’ You that’s on one end of the spectrum, and Meanwhile Back At Mama’s and City Lights that sound like Green Grass Grows from early in my career.”
Tim was asked to compare this new album to the previous one, “Two Lanes of Freedom.” His answer was very revealing: “Every record sort of generates what the next record is going to be. There’s always a couple of songs, and I don’t know what those songs are going to be until I start the next project. For me, sonically, this record came out of two songs on the last album: Two Lanes of Freedom and Friend of a Friend. This album came from the sounds of those songs. I never worry if my songs are too country or too pop. I just let the songs develop on their own organically, because when I sing it, it comes out country. This album hammers that home in a lot of ways because of the different styles of music on it, yet it’s still country. I always put a lot of care in the songs I pick. There are some songs that are more artistic, but on this album, I could see every song on the radio. They’re all singles.”
Tim’s wife Faith Hill joins him on the album for “Meanwhile Back At Mama’s.” The two will celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary on October the 7th. Tim was asked the secret to their marriage: “She’s very tolerant. That’s how we stay together.” Their duet is nominated for CMA Vocal Event, and Tim is proud to be a part of that: “I love the diversity of country music, it’s the broadest spectrum of music on country radio, so when you can do Meanwhile Back At Mama’s, and know there’s room for that in country radio, and I thought Mama’s was a spot that needed to be filled, and it’s cool you can do that.”
The album package is filled with pictures of Tim. But there’s one picture in the album booklet that’s particularly important: “My mom. She saw it, and asked, ‘You did this why?’ For me it represents a lot of things. She worked at a radio station in Jacksonville, and wanted to be a dancer. She sent an application to be a dancer on a TV show, and two days after she found out she was pregnant with me, she got a call back to audition. Her life changed that day. To be on my album project was full circle in a lot of ways, maybe I helped her fulfill some of her dreams.”
Tim McGraw’s new album “Sundown Heaven Town” is available September 16th.
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