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Brad Paisley, honky-tonking in Tampa
The country singer ushers in today's release of his fourth
album with interviews and an acoustic show. By SEAN
DALY
Published August 16, 2005
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Brad Paisley will give interviews at the
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino this afternoon. He
performs tonight at the Dallas Bull in Tampa, where only the
first 700 people will be admitted.
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TAMPA - When country star Brad Paisley releases his surefire
smash album Time Well Wasted today, he won't be celebrating the big
launch in La La Land with actor wife Kimberly Williams or cruising
Nashville looking for a good ol' time.
Nope, the hunky singer will be getting his cowboy kicks right
here in Tampa, performing an intimate acoustic show at the Dallas
Bull, the kind of true-blue honky-tonk Paisley prefers.
So just how did such a major music-biz moment land in our back
yard?
"We've been doing a lot of CD release parties, and believe it or
not we do 'em at the Dallas Bull," explains Heidi Heinz, director of
marketing and promotions at WQYK-FM, the ever-powerful country radio
station sponsoring tonight's promotional appearance. "Strangely
enough, (major country artists) love to go back to the
honky-tonks."
In the afternoon, the 32-year-old Paisley will be at Tampa's
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, where he'll give umpteen
interviews to radio stations all over the nation. And then at night,
Paisley, who routinely sells out arenas, will entertain one of his
smallest crowds in years. Doors open at 6 p.m., with only the first
700 people getting in for the show.
"We asked him, "Do you want to play at Floyd's (a restaurant and
trendy nightspot at the Hard Rock)?' " says Heinz. "He said no, he
wanted to play in a country bar."
Heinz laughs: "Have you heard his new song, Alcohol? That might
have something to do with it."
Indeed, Alcohol is a pedal-steel-woozy tune sung from the
perspective of booze. As the slow, last-call keeper goes: "I got
blamed at your wedding reception, for your best man's embarrassing
speech. And also for those naked pictures of you at the beach."
Just a few albums into his career, the West Virginia native has
become a major force in country music. He's drawn high-praise
comparisons to George Strait and Alan Jackson, fellow
"neo-traditionalists" who have made a fortune respecting country's
roots while keeping things catchy. Unlike rap-lovers Big & Rich
("neo-outlaw"), beach bum Kenny Chesney ("neo-Parrothead") or
crossover king Tim McGraw ("neo-lame"), neo-trad acts have cred
among both new fans and old-schoolers, Tim McGraw moms and George
Jones purists.
Paisley, who pens most of his songs, has grown famous for having
an XXXL sense of humor and a big beating heart, a marketable one-two
punch that shows up in bunches on Time Well Wasted. His fourth
full-length album is a tad bloaty at 15 tracks, but it's also
stuffed with soon-to-be hits, including duets with Dolly Parton (the
contemplative When I Get Where I'm Going) and Arista label mate Alan
Jackson (the sorta-sequel to Alcohol, Out in the Parkin' Lot).
Whereas Paisley's previous albums threaded old-fashioned values with
punny twists, this disc amps up the fun, fun, fun, a carpe diem
approach that will no doubt result in a whole lot of
chart-topping.
It also helps that Paisley has become a whiz-bang guitarist, a
quick-draw artist whose sturdy-but-nimble style falls somewhere
between the picking of Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler. It takes a
fast, clever drummer to keep up with him, and that's just what Ben
Sesar is: a secret weapon and a driving force. Screw your head on
tight and check out wild instrumental Time Warp.
There are good times all over the disc. Opening cut The World
chugs along on a walk-of-life strut as Paisley, whose thick baritone
has a solid Everyman charm, cheers up a paramour feeling lost in the
universe: "You think you're one of millions but you're one in a
million to me." Brad's no pushover, however. On the rambunctious
I'll Take You Back, he uses that same gusto to kiss off a bad date,
vowing, "Let's say I get bucked off a bull and fall and hit my head.
And then I get amnesia and forget the things you said. I lose my
better judgment and end up smoking crack. Right then, that's when
I'll take you back."
Even when Paisley starts feeling amorous, he never resorts to
Hallmarkian claptrap or sings like he was dying. He just amps down
the wit and lets a little mush slip through. Although there's
nothing here as gut-wrenching as 2003 hit Whiskey Lullaby, several
ballads pack a decent punch. Waitin' on a Woman is based on a
generational twist - a Nashville specialty - as a wise but witty
older man tutors a young buck on the ways of women. And the sweetly
teasing She's Everything will no doubt increase Paisley's female fan
base exponentially: "She's a yellow pair of running shoes, a holey
pair of jeans. She looks great in cheap sunglasses, she looks great
in anything."
After his 2003 album Mud on the Tires debuted at No. 1 on the
Billboard charts and was eventually certified double platinum, it
was hard to imagine Paisley topping that sort of success. Not so
fast: Time Well Wasted is a can't-miss whopper for sure, a strong,
shaggy statement that will please great big crowds - and a very
lucky small one at the Dallas Bull tonight.
-- Sean Daly can be reached at 727 893-8467 or sdaly@sptimes.com His blog is at
www.sptimes.com/blogs/popmusic
-- PREVIEW: Brad Paisley will perform tonight at 9 at the Dallas
Bull, 8222 U.S. 301 N, Tampa. Doors open at 6 p.m.; only the first
700 will be admitted, no reservations accepted. $10 cover includes
his new CD, Time Well Wasted. (813) 987-2855. [Last modified August 16, 2005, 05:10:04]
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