With some 40 million units sold in the US, Tim McGraw is the something like number 8 on a list of best selling solo artists across all genres. Only very few have managed to stay successful over such a long time span, and re-invent themselves.
But maybe that is the secret to his success! Not only can he display a body at 47, which should could be the envy of Superman, as well as a successful marriage with singer Faith Hill, but he also managed to keep his music full of surprises.
To draft his 20-years career in the entertainment business would not fit in this one blog entry, so I am going to focus on his most recent outputs, to see what makes him so successful.
After splitting from his record label Curb in connection with a successful lawsuit in 2010, Tim McGraw signed with Big Machine Records (the label home of Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts among others) and released his latest album "Two Lanes of Freedom" in 2013.
(1) 'Truck Yeah' word-play reference to the word "fuck" and some very hard electric guitar riffs
(2) 'One of Those Nights', a turn in the opposite direction with a rather traditional sound, but a great chorus melody and the highest chart position at 3 from the album
(3) 'Highway Don't Care', the Superstar-collaboration with Taylor Swift and Keith Urban and, in my opinion, one of the best videos ever produced
(4) 'Southern Girl' in particular the use of the electronic auto-tune, voice-over effect on the chorus caused quite a stir in the fan community, however at the same time, that very effect gave the song such a unique sound.
On top of this diverse record, Tim kept touring successfully with a big, state-of-the art production. This special Video along the title track from the album documents it.
InApril of 2014 the current single 'Meanwhile Back at Mama's' was eventually released, however not from the album "Two Lanes of Freedom".
While it has become quite common to test the waters with a pre-single from an upcoming album, the latest seems to stretch the time before album-release even further. And even go into a second single, if necessary, such as has happened with Tim McGraw, where the official release date for the new album ("Sundown Heaven Town") is only September 16th, 2014.
And as long as no official release date has been set (see my post on Kip Moore), the label may potentially reserve the right to eventually cancel the release altogether.
'Meanwhile Back at Mama's' is a very interesting piece of music at his point in time, as it quite counter runs most anything that is currently on the charts: it is a quiet, rather traditional country ballad. To many it may be too quiet, such as myself, at first listen, but as soon as you give it a repeated listen, it starts to grow on you and you get caught up in that magic little melody. A melody that perfectly reflects what the lyrics tell!
In these crazy times, when nothing can be fast enough, there seems to be no more room for quiet, calm and memories that allow to take you back to old places and times, that you grew up with. And precisely this feeling of longing for a place in time, full of harmony and belonging, along with the bittersweet sentiment of times gone bye, are so perfectly communicated through this song. And that clearly makes it so attractive!
The accompanying video with its slowmotion sequences underlines these feelings.
Currently the song is in the Top-10 and seems destined to climb further, hence showing how versatile Tim McGraw can still be!
http://timmcgraw.com/
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