Category Archives: Brad Paisley

Contemporary country singer/songwriter Brad Paisley was born October 28, 1972, in Glen Dale, WV; given his first guitar at age eight, he delivered his first public performance at church two years later. With his 50-something guitar teacher Clarence “Hank” Goddard and two of the older man’s seasoned musician buddies, the teenaged Paisley formed his first band, the C-Notes, and at age 12 started writing his own music. After playing in front of the local Rotary Club, he was invited to appear on Wheeling station WWVA’s famed Saturday night broadcast Jamboree USA. Paisley’s debut was so well received that he was invited to become a part of the program full-time, and in the years to follow he opened for the likes of the Judds, Roy Clark, and Little Jimmy Dickens. He later attended Nashville’s Belmont University, serving an internship with ASCAP; the contacts Paisley made there helped him land a songwriting deal with EMI, and he also appeared on innumerable demos.

Signing to Arista, he put forth his debut solo album, Who Needs Pictures, in 1999. The record produced two chart-topping singles in “He Didn’t Have to Be,” an ode to loving stepfathers, and “We Danced” and also acquired generally positive reviews for its diversity of country styles. In the meantime, Paisley recorded a duet with Chely Wright, “Hard to Be a Husband, Hard to Be a Wife,” for the Backstage at the Grand Ole Opry compilation; the two later joined efforts on several music for Wright’s Never Love You Enough album. The sophomore to Paisley’s debut, Part II, was issued in 2001 and promptly returned him to the Top Five with “Two People Fell in Love.” “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)” gave Paisley his third chart-topper, and “Wrapped Around” fell one spot short of becoming his fourth. “I Wish You’d Stay” became the fourth Top Ten hit from the record in early 2003.

At the beginning of August 2005, Paisley put together a short “director’s commentary” preview of his next album for his fan base to download. The full album, Time Well Wasted, appeared two weeks later and narrowly missed the top of the album charts, though it did hit number one on the country charts. In 2006 Brad Paisley Christmas, a collection of both originals and covers, came out, came by 5th Gear in 2007, which included the ubiquitous “Ticks,” a sure future novelty classic. An record of mostly guitar instrumentals (Paisley’s excellent guitar playing is a big part of his appeal), Play, followed in 2008, with the big country vocal hit “Waitin’ on a Woman” added in as a “bonus” track. By now poised at the very top of the commercial country world, Paisley put forth American Saturday Night in 2009.

Brad Paisley – Country Artist of the Week

Posted on by

Quite possibly the best guitar player on modern radio, Brad Paisley is definitely my favorite country star of today. Brad is a witty lyricist and a hell of a singer, and has a way with the fans that is seldom seen. From his fairly interactive blog to his abundance of meet and greets for each concert, he is a fan favorite. In an interview with NPR Radio, Brad talks about how his grandfather got him started playing the guitar. His grandfather, who worked the night shift on the railroad, urged him to play the guitar at a young age. He gave Brad his first guitar when he was eight years old. At first he was resistant saying “I kind of fought it for a while because at eight, you want to play sports or do anything other than something that hurts your hand. But the thing that kept me going was knowing how bad he wanted me to do that. How bad he wanted me to be a player. Because I think he enjoyed it so much I think he wanted me to be able to have that in my life… he changed my life in a way that no one ever will be able to again. His advice to me was, ‘Anything that’s going wrong in your life, you can pick this guitar up and it’ll go away.’” To start our week, let’s watch some classic Brad Paisley and say a thanks to his grandpappy for the gift he’s given us fans! This is “Nervous Breakdown” from his album “Time Well Wasted” which peaked on the Billboard Top Country Album charts at #1, and Top 200 Album (in all genres) at #2 in 2005. Brad is currently enjoying his recent win of “Best Country Instrumental Performance” for “Throttleneck” off his most recent album “5th Gear“. For Brad Paisley 2008 concert tour dates, artist biographies and event details, please visit our partner site Country Music On TourCountry Music Photo Gallery

Brad Paisley performs in Grammy Beatles tribute

Posted on by

Brad Paisley along with fellow Grammy nominees Feist, Alicia Keys, and the casts of “The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil” and Across The Universe will participate in a special Beatles segment at the 50th annual Grammy Awards telecast Feb. 10. Paisley is the second country act announced to perform at the Grammys. Carrie Underwood also will sing at the shindig although it is not clear whether they will be singing their duet found on his 5th Gear album. Paisley is up for three awards: Best Country Collaboration With Vocals (“Oh Love” with Underwood), Best Country Instrumental Performance (“Throttleneck”) and Best Country Album (“5th Gear”). For Brad Paisley 2008 concert tour dates, artist biographies and event details, please visit our partner site Country Music On TourCountry Music Photo Gallery

Brad Paisley Tops this week’s Billboard Song Charts

Posted on by

Brad Paisley’s latest single “Letter to Me” pushes right to the top of the Billboard country music song charts this week followed by Rascal Flatts’ “Winner at a Losing Game,” Montgomery Gentry’s “What Do Ya Think About That,” Sugarland’s “Stay” and Swift’s mighty “Our Song” rounding out the top 5. The songs making their first appearance on the charts are Jewel’s “Stronger Woman” (No. 50), Sara Evans’ “Some Things Never Change” (No. 54), the Reba McEntire– Kenny Chesney duet, “Every Other Weekend” (No. 58), Clay Walker’s “She Likes It in the Morning” (No. 59) and the Drew Davis Band’s “Back There All the Time” (No. 60). Anne Murray has the highest-debuting album, Duets: Friends & Legends, which bows at No. 8. The other newbies are Trisha Yearwood’s Love Songs (a collection from her MCA days) at No. 35, followed by the multi-artist package, I Will Always Love You: 17 Inspirational Love Songs, at No. 44 and Kenny Rogers’ A Love Song Collection (No. 53). Suppose anyone’s marketing music toward Valentine Day shoppers? The remaining Top 5 albums, in descending order, are Garth Brooks‘ The Ultimate Hits, the Eagles‘ Long Road Out of Eden, Sugarland‘s Enjoy the Ride and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ Raising Sand. There are no returning albums to this week’s chart, but there is one comeback song, the Road Hammers’ “I Don’t Know When to Quit,” popping in at No. 51.Country Music Photo Gallery

Brad Paisley Seeks Online Talent

Posted on by

Brad Paisley is giving you the chance to become a video director. July 19, 2007 – The singer has invited fans to shoot a homemade video for his new single, “Online,” and submit it via YouTube. Brad will pick a favorite and fly the winner to a concert on his current tour, where the clip will be shown to the audience. The deadline for entries is July 25, and the winner will be announced July 31. Five runners-up will receive an autographed copy of Brad’s latest album, 5th Gear. Go to youtube.com/watch?v=uLo0l3XYU8s or bradpaisley.com to learn how to enter.Country Music Photo Gallery