Tim McGraw, the country music icon, sounded more like Tim McGraw, the husband, an hour before performing at Joe’s Bar (940 W. Weed St.) on Tuesday.
“Faith wants to go shopping tomorrow,” said McGraw while sitting on his parked tour bus behind Joe’s. “She’s going to single-handedly fix the economy.”
McGraw, of course, was talking about his wife and fellow country music singer Faith Hill, who had just stepped off the bus. The two have been married 13 years now and have sold over 70 million records combined.
The couple has three daughters, which McGraw, a self-proclaimed guy’s guy, insisted is a blessing. He takes comfort in knowing “I will be well taken care of in my old age.” Apparently his daughters have also helped him rest his Grammy-winning voice.
“It teaches you to shut up,” said McGraw when asked what it’s like to have three daughters. “You don’t have any say. It takes them a long time to get ready, so I’ve had to learn patience.”
Are McGraw’s daughters forcing him to listen to music he never…
“Oh yeah,” he responded before I could finish. “There’s some stuff I can’t stand. I’m not going to name anyone because I’ll run into them somewhere. But my oldest daughter listens to ’70’s rock, which is my favorite. They like Ne-Yo, and I like Ne-Yo too.”
McGraw said he and Ne-Yo have written songs together, but none of them appear on the country star’s 10th studio album, “Southern Voice,” which came out Tuesday. Still, there is one random song credit on the album: Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger.
“[Kroeger] came to a show and said he was going to write a song for me, which is something you hear often in this business. But he actually did,” McGraw said about the song “It’s a Business Doing Pleasure With You,” which was written by Kroeger, Brett James and Joey Moi.
McGraw feels the album is on the darker side and said he hopes his film career will one day take a similar direction. He is drawn to heavy material (McGraw called “There Will Be Blood” his favorite film ever), but he doesn’t think he is in a position where he can pick which roles he wants. Then again, the 42-year-old crooner tends to sell himself short when it comes to acting and singing.
“I can’t stand to watch myself on screen or on TV and I can’t stand to hear myself sing,” said McGraw, who co-stars with Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side,” which hits theaters Nov. 20. “I don’t think I’ll ever reach a point where I think I’m good enough to do this.”
With show-time nearing and a sold out crowd waiting, I asked McGraw if he had any pre-show rituals. He said he doesn’t — anymore.
“All my rituals encompassed some kind of drinking,” McGraw admitted. “I would take a shot or two, three, four. But I don’t drink anymore.”
McGraw instead spent the time before Tuesday’s show watching the New York Yankees-Los Angeles Angels playoff game on the TV in his bus. The winner of the series will go to the World Series and face either the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Philadelphia Phillies, Tim’s favorite team – the one his father Tug McGraw used to pitch for.
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