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Articles: Tim McGraw likes it loud

Posted by admin on Friday, July 02, 2004 - 01:03 AM

f you like him, love him or want some more of him, you might want to see country frontman Tim McGraw in concert tonight.
Fans will likely hear McGraw’s mix of romantic ballads and rocking contemporary country as well as tracks from his upcoming album, “Live Like You Were Dying,” at his concert at DTE Energy Music Theatre, say country music lovers. Country veterans, such as McGraw’s accompanying acts, Big & Rich and the Warren Brothers, are embracing the mix of styles for which McGraw is known. And Brett Warren, who, along with his brother Brad, has served as a judge on “Nashville Star” on the USA Network, says fans can expect a rocking concert tonight. “It’s cutting-edge country,” Warren says of this style. The Warren Brothers’ new album, “Well-Deserved Obscurity,” mixes retro country with classic rock. “It’s hip to be hillbilly again,” he says. The three bands will perform on a glass stage that includes moving movie screens. And considering the bands’ members are close friends, there’s a chance the three bands will join in a jam session, Warren says. “Me, Brad (Warren) and Tim (McGraw) wrote a song on the plane from (Washington) D.C. a couple of days ago,” he says. “(It’s the) good ol’ boy network.” McGraw has a history of mixing old country with rock, which has brought many noncountry fans into the genre. The Academy of Country Music named McGraw’s second album, 1994’s “Not a Moment Too Soon,” Album of the Year, and he got his first No. 1 hit with the sensitive ditty “Don’t Take the Girl.” In 1995, McGraw’s third album, “All I Want,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard country album chart and generated three No. 1 singles, including the catchy and down-home “I Like It, I Love It.” That summer paired McGraw with his future wife, country songbird Faith Hill, on the Spontaneous Combustion tour, which became the year’s top-drawing country tour. Two years later with the release of “Everywhere,” another one of McGraw’s heart-felt serenades, “It’s Your Love” broke onto the music scene and held the No. 1 spot for six weeks. “Just to See You Smile” off the same album became Billboard’s longest running single, spending 42 weeks at the top. “His music seems to have a broad base,” says Mac Daniels, program director at Detroit-based WYCD-FM (99.5). “He can do it all and do it all well.” “Real Good Man,” from McGraw’s most recent release, 2002’s “Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors,” shows McGraw’s rocking side, Daniels says. With this album, McGraw continues to experiment, using his live band on the album instead of session musicians, which isn’t the norm on most country albums. The release features guest vocals by “Bette Davis Eyes” singer Kim Carnes and the Eagles’ Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit, along with a cover of the Elton John classic “Tiny Dancer.” The title track from “Live Like You Were Dying,” which will be in stores Aug. 24, is an example of the depth of McGraw’s songs, Daniels says. McGraw is also branching outside of music, landing a supporting role as an alcoholic father in the Imagine Entertainment/Universal film “Friday Night Lights,” adapted from H.G. Bissinger’s book about a Texas town’s devotion to its high-school football team. Rob Walker, program director of Ann Arbor-based WWWW-FM (102.9), says the flexibility of McGraw, Big & Rich and the Warren Brothers has brought many people into country that were once “scared of the twang.” “Everybody has a little bit of redneck in them,” he says. “Country music is kind of an escape.” Many once-devoted fans to classic rock and Top-40 pop are crossing the Mason-Dixon line, he says. The indecency of pop music and the family-friendly fun of country are all lures. “A lot of people have the impression that it’s about grinding the beer, lost my dog, lost my truck, lost my gal,” he says. “For most of the country songs, it’s just about having a good time. Fans can expect a good time at McGraw’s concert tonight, Daniels says. “It’s going to be nonstop from the first song,” he says. “Tim will go out and eat them up.”

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