Brad Paisley Co-Hosts 7/8-9

This week’s co-host is Brad Paisley, who has just released a new song: “So Many Summers.” In April, Brad went to Ukraine to meet with the country’s president. They recorded a song together called “Same Here.” Both songs will be on an album Brad is working on called Son Of The Mountains.

This is Brad’s first time as Lon’s co-host since 2019. Brad told Lon, “We both got Corvettes mid-pandemic, when you couldn’t talk to people in the same room at the same time.  It was quite a strange time, but I got so much more time with my family than I would ever get in any other year.”

Lon traveled out to Brad’s home studio south of Nashville.  The purpose was to hear a few songs from Brad’s forthcoming album, Son Of The Mountains.  Brad told Lon he’s about halfway done: “I’m still tweaking the last remaining bits. I’ve got the first six songs totally ready. It’s a fascinating time to release music, as far as the way you put things out. It’s fun to build the story I want to tell.”

Lon then asked about the story behind the new album: “I come from a little town in West Virginia, and it’s the perspective of writing songs about where I’m from, but also seeing the world from that viewpoint. I grew up in an idyllic place.  Now the world is so different, and the place I’m from is very different.”

A few months ago, Brad got the opportunity to travel to Ukraine, and meet that country’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.  The trip began with a song Brad wrote called “Same Here.” Brad says, “I had friends that were Ukranian, and then I wrote that song, and that last verse is about that.  It’s like, ‘What’s it like there?’  I wanted to get a Ukranian singer at the end, and then I realized, why not have President Zelenskyy do it, and his people said it would be great.”

So Brad first traveled to Poland to do a USO show in April, then took a train into Kiev. “I got off the train and saw a bunch of schoolkids.  That’s what hit me, was that life was continuing between air-raid sirens.  You come back, and feel so thankful that that’s not our reality. But I would think if it happened to us, we’d fight for our freedom.  They want to be us. They want to be a free society, and they’re trying to be.”

Brad got to speak with President Zelenskyy: “I had about an hour with him. We talked about the song, I asked how he was doing, and it’s the weight of the world on his shoulders.  He’s a very nice guy. He has kids. I think he was underestimated in that sense when he began.  We can’t take our freedom for granted. I know I don’t today, having seen it firsthand.”

Brad has just released another new song from his forthcoming album.  It’s called “So Many Summers.”  Brad told Lon, “Part of it was written to my kids, and part of it was written to me, saying ‘Wake up dummy.'”  The song has a guest appearance from Brad’s 14 year old son Jasper: “He came in while I was recording, and he sounded like a young version of me. It’s like the echo of me, and it means a lot.”

Brad went on to say that his two sons have listened to a lot of his older music: “They listened to stuff I recorded before they were born. My wife told me that on their way to school, they’d listen to stuff from my catalog, and never said a word to me.  We’ve not talked about the stories in my songs.  I don’t remember who I was before them.  All of my memories prior to them, somehow they were there.”

Lon asked Brad if his 16 year old son Huck is driving yet: “No he doesn’t seem interested yet. He could probably pass his test tomorrow, but he’s kinda OK with waiting.  I think it’s common.  People I talk to say kids wait. They’re not chomping at the bit.”

BTW Brad will perform So Many Summers on the Today Show on Friday July 14th.

Brad also has great stories this week about Tim McGraw, Parmalee, Keith Urban, and Carrie Underwood.

NEXT WEEK: Russell Dickerson

Tags: featured

Category: CO-HOST