Tim McGraw and baseball go together like Johnny and June, Willie and weed, three chords and the truth.
The
country superstar's dad, Tug McGraw, was an All-Star relief pitcher on
the World Series-winning Mets and Phillies. Tim attended Northeast
Louisiana University on a baseball scholarship.
"I have a
connection with baseball," McGraw said. "It's always part of my life.
And the Mets are doing well this season. I'm a National League fan."
McGraw and his buddy Kenny Chesney are playing only stadiums this summer on their 22-city Brothers in the Sun Tour.
"Kenny
and I have been talking about this for years and years," said McGraw,
45, who last toured with Chesney in 2000. "This year the timing was
perfect. This tour worked out great because it's mainly Saturdays and
Sundays. It gave me time to really work on my record, for Faith (Hill,
his wife) to work on her record and for me to help out with the kids."
In
fact, he called late from Nashville the other day because he was busy
dropping off his three daughters at their various destinations.
McGraw is loving this stadium tour.
"The
bigger the crowd, the better for me," he said. "You get more nervous
the smaller the crowd is. The intimate things are fun but it's more
nerve-racking when you can see everybody. When there's 50,000 people,
you sort of can just play to the back of the audience and have a great
time."
McGraw's 11th studio album, Emotional Traffic, was released
in January amid controversy. Curb Records, his longtime label, filed a
lawsuit saying he made the record too soon after its predecessor. He
counter sued and won the freedom to work for another label, so Curb
finally released Traffic. McGraw signed with Big Machine, home to Taylor
Swift, but last week an appeals court apparently ruled in favour of
Curb, which claims rights to McGraw's next album.
Wherever he
lands, he figures "the best is ahead of me. I'm only about 30 per cent
into my career. I'm just starting to figure out how to do what I do."
In
addition to 2012 bringing new albums by Hill and probably McGraw, too,
it's an election year, and he has been a little more outspoken
politically than your average country star. In fact, a few years ago he
sounded serious about running for governor or senator as a Democrat in
Tennessee.
"That was back in my drinking days," said McGraw, who
quit drinking four years ago to avoid setting a bad example for his
daughters. "Who knows? I feel like I've been very fortunate. If one of
these days I'm in a position where I can give back and feel like I'm
smart enough to help and not just doing it for the hell of doing it,
then it would be something I'd consider. But certainly it would be after
my kids are grown.
"I pay attention. I'm not sure anyone wants to hear my opinion - or that I should give my opinions."
One
thing he is certain about next fall is that Hill will be involved with
Sunday Night Football (she sings the theme song). "It gives me an excuse
to watch football and not get in trouble for it," he said. Plus, his
daughters sometimes watch with him, though they're busy with their own
activities.
"Gracie, our oldest daughter, was a cheerleader last
year in basketball," he said. "Maggie, our middle daughter who starts
high school this fall, is going to be a football cheerleader. We go to
all the high school games - football and basketball."
And like
Dad, who played football and baseball in high school, and Mom, who ran
track and played softball, the girls are athletic, he said.
"Gracie
plays softball. She started at second base this year as a freshman. She
hit really well. She had a good year. Maggie runs track - the 800
(meters) and the hurdles. They have fun with it and do a good job with
it. I take it more serious than they do, probably."