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Toby Keith American Ride There's nothing any more remarkable about Toby Keith's thirteenth studio album than his twelfth. Or his tenth. Or his self-titled 1993 debut. As he's done for the last 16 years, Keith has gone to work playing the shows, writing the songs and recording the album that, in this case, became American Ride. Like the hard-working fans who buy his music and the soldiers he visits every year on his USO Tours, he takes his job seriously, gives it his all, gets up the next day and does it all over again. Of course, Toby Keith just happens to be doing it at the highest levels of entertainment industry success. In fact, Keith's career is a model of consistency – and consistent excellence – that's arguably unrivaled in all genres of music. His 1993 debut was a No. 1 Billboard Heatseeker. His next four albums all reached at least top 10 on the Country Albums chart. Every album since, starting in 2001 with Pull My Chain, has reached No. 1. On the singles charts, he's scored a #1 hit every year since 1993. Across 44 single releases and 20 album releases including four hits collections, he's only released six singles he didn't write. Every year, year-in and year-out, since 1993, Toby Keith has shown up at the very top of country music. And with American Ride, his 16th studio album, he's done it again. "It's the same as always," Keith says of the album making process. "I do most of my writing on the road while I'm touring. As usual, I'll have guys out to write with. Most of this stuff was written either by myself or with Bobby Pinson. And each year it's my new crop. I'm probably 10 or 12 songs into writing for the next one. What we wrote last year ended up on this album, and what we're writing this year will go on the next one. We put the best 12 or so down in the studio and move on." And it is that matter-of-fact routine that is so extraordinary. American Ride's title track is already a No. 1 smash, rising faster than any Keith release since 2001's "Courtesy of the Red, White And Blue (The Angry American)." Like "Courtesy," "American Ride" has tapped the collective consciousness of a nation in distress, this time providing music fans with a wry rallying cry. Unlike the 2001 hit, "Ride" was not written by Keith, though it sounds like it could have been. "That's the secret," he says. "Over 16 years I've only released a handful of singles that weren't mine, but I think all of them were songs people were sure I wrote. And that's the only way I'll record something from the outside. I wouldn't do something that didn't sound like me as an artist." Keith's songwriting is anything but in retrograde, however. He collaborates with Pinson on the smoldering "Are You Feelin' Me" and barely restrained "You Can't Read My Mind." The two cook up a little honkytonk fun with "Every Dog Has Its Day" (with John Waples), the grin-inducing "If I Had One" and the full-throttle "Loaded." And he still writes alone, offering up the confessional "Woke Up On My Own" and dialing up the romance on "Tender As I Want To Be." His only allusion to the effort devoted to sustaining such a successful career comes on the Pinson collaboration "Gypsy Driftin'." "It can be tough beating it up on the road this long, going onstage when you're tired or sick," Keith says. "But as soon as you step out there the fans wave their flames and sing along with every song and it makes it all better. So that song's kind of a tip-of-the-hat to the people who've supported us all these years." The straight-up Memphis blues of "If You're Tryin' You Ain't" offers a change of pace from Keith's previous work. "I was in the Oklahoma University locker room at halftime of a football game and saw four or five boys getting taped up," Keith recalls. "There's a guy there who keeps a handful of rolls of tape on his belt. I said, 'Are you tryin' to get everybody healthy?' And he said, 'If you're tryin', you ain't.'" Another solo Keith composition, "The Ballad of Balad," was inspired by one of the Oklahoman's annual USO Tours to forward operating bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We were landing at this FOB called Balad and I asked if it was pronounced 'ballad' or 'buh-lodd.' They said it was 'buh-lodd' and I decided to write a song called 'The Ballad of Balad' about an Army recruiter talking to a slacker. I started playing it on the USO Tour last year and it was the hit of the parade." American Ride's emotional center is "Cryin' For Me (Wayman's Song)," which Keith wrote for the funeral of his close friend Wayman Tisdale. An All-American basketball player at Oklahoma, first round NBA draft pick and 12-year player, Tisdale went on to have a very successful career as a renowned jazz bass player. "Great big charismatic smile," Toby says. "He didn't have a wall up, he was just one of the good guys." Tisdale lost a leg to bone cancer in 2008 and struggled through leukemia, finishing his last rounds of chemo and tests early in 2009. "He called me in May on a Wednesday and left a voicemail asking if he could lease a couple buses from me," Toby says of his friend. "He had a clean bill of health and was ready to start playing dates again. I called him back Thursday and left a message telling him he could just use them. I wasn't on the road. The next morning I was doing phoners for my European tour that's coming up and got a text from my wife that said Wayman died. And I thought, no, he's been sick but he didn't die. "Come to find out, he'd been having complications breathing. The chemo caused his throat to tighten down, his wife drove him to the hospital, they laid him down and looked at him and he died right there. Just 44-years old and one of the greatest guys. I wheeled around the house Friday and Saturday in a stupor. All I wanted to do was sleep. I got up Sunday morning, went into my office, shut the door, called his cell phone and heard his voicemail one more time. Then I picked up my guitar and wrote this song." "I've had some loss in my life, of course my dad, but that's different," Keith continues. "I've lost some friends and acquaintances along the way, but this one for some reason was very difficult for me. The funeral was the next Wednesday and I wrote this for it, but I could not get through it. I ended up doing Willie's 'Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground' because I wasn't attached to that. It was weeks before I could make it all the way through the song. It was tough on me." Keith met sax player Dave Koz, bass player Marcus Miller and percussionist Arthur Thompson at the funeral, and they agreed to play on the track for the album. "I brought my buddy Mark Wright to produce it because I didn't know who was going to play on it after we had it tracked." Keith produced the rest of American Ride, as he's done with all of his albums since 2006. "This album is just another example of exactly what I do," Keith says, "The Wayman song has a jazz vibe to it and is a bit of a step out. 'Balad' is another bus song, and I haven't put one of those on an album in a few years. And the blues song 'Tryin'' is different for me. But I don't set out to do certain things with an album; however and whenever the inspiration strikes, I just go with it." And as Toby Keith goes, so goes country music. At least since 1993. He's sold more than 30 million albums, been among the top all-genre touring artists for a decade and his songs have been honored by BMI for 63 million broadcast performances and counting. He notes, "That's the one number of them all that gets me." Toby Keith is country music's most durable current hitmaker, and you can count it like clockwork. "I don't have to pinch myself, I know how hard I work," he says of the success. "And I expect when you work hard you'll have results." And these results speak for themselves. -30- ACM Awards 2003 Entertainer of the Year 2003 Top Male Vocalist of the Year 2003 Launch Video of the year "Beer For My Horses" 2003 Album of the Year "Shock'N Y'All" 2002 Entertainer of the Year 2000 Top Male Vocalist 2000 Album of the Year American Music Awards: 2004 - Favorite Male Artist - Country Music 2004 - Favorite Album - Country Music - Shock'N Y'all 2003 Favorite Album - Country Music - Unleashed Billboard Music Awards: 2005 Top Country Artist 2005 Top Country Artist - Male 2005 Top country Album - "Shock'N Y'All" 2005 #1 Hot Country Singles & Tracks Artist 2002 Country Singles Artist of the Year BMI Awards: 2008 Country Award Winner for “High Maintenance Woman” 2007 Country Award Winner for “Get Drunk and Be Somebody” 2007 Country Award Winner for “A Little Too Late” 2006 Country Song of the Year for “As Good As I Once Was” 2006 Country Songwriter of the Year 2005 Country Award Winner for “Stays In Mexico” 2005 Country Award Winner for “Whiskey Girl” 2004 Country Songwriter/Artist of the Year 2004 Country Award Winner for “American Soldier” 2004 Country Award Winner for “Beer For My Horses” 2004 Country Award Winner for Who’s Your Daddy” 2003 Country Award Winner for “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” 2003 Country Award Winner for “Who’s Your Daddy” 2002 Country Award Winner for “I’m Just Talkin’ About Tonight” 2001 Songwriter/Artist of the Year Winner 2001 Country Award Winner for “You Shouldn’t Kiss Me Like This” 2001 Country Award Winner for “Country Comes To Town” 2001 Country Award Winner for “How Do You Like Me Now?!” 2000 Country Award Winner for “How Do You Like Me Now?!” 1999 Country Award Winner for “Dream Walkin’” 1998 Country Award Winner for “Me Too” 1997 Country Award Winner for “Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine On You” 1996 Country Award Winner for “You Ain’t Much Fun” 1995 Country Award Winner for “Who’s That Man” 1995 Country Award Winner for “Wish I Didn’t Know Now” 1994 Country Award Winner for “He Ain’t Worth Missing” 1994 Country Award Winner for “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” Five Million-Air Award for “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” Three Million-Air Award for “How Do You Like Me Now?!” Three Million-Air Award for “You Ain’t Much Fun” Three Million-Air Award for “Who’s That Man” Three Million-Air Award for “Wish I Didn’t Know” Three Million-Air Award for “He Ain’t Worth Missin’” Two Million-Air Award for “As Good As I Once Was” Two Million-Air Award for “I Love This Bar” Two Million-Air Award for “Beer For My Horses” Two Million-Air Award for “Who’s Your Daddy” Two Million-Air Award for “I’m Just Talkin’ About Tonight” Two Million-Air Award for “You Shouldn’t Kiss Me Like This” Million-Air Award for “High Maintenance Woman” Million-Air Award for “A Little Too Late” Million-Air Award for “Whiskey Girl” Million-Air Award for “American Soldier Million-Air Award for “Courtesy Of The Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” Million-Air Award for “Country Comes To Town” Million-Air Award for “Dream Walkin’” Million-Air Award for “Me Too” Million-Air Award for “A Woman’s Touch” Million-Air Award for “Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine On You” Million-Air Award for “Big Ol’ Truck” CMA Awards: 2005 Music Video of the Year "As Good As I Once Was" 2001 Male Vocalist of the Year CMT Flameworthy Awards: 2005 Hottest Video of The Year "Whiskey Girl" 2004 Video of the Year "American Soldier" 2004 Video Director of the Year - Michael Salomon "Beer For My Horses" 2004 Video Collaboration with Willie Nelson "Beer For My Horses" 2003 Male Video "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American) 2003 Video of the Year "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue" (The Angry American) 2003 Cocky Video of the Year "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue" (The Angry American) 2002 LOL Video "I Wanna Talk About Me" CMT Video Countdown Awards 2000 "Male Video Artist of the Year" 2000 #1 Video of the Year "How Do You Like Me Now" Country Weekly Awards: 2003 Fan Favorite Album "Unleashed" 2003 Fan Favorite Video "Beer For My Horses" 2002 Fan Favorite Video "I Wanna Talk About Me" GAC's Top 50 Countdown:: 2005 #1 Most Popular Video " As Good As I Once Was" Nashville Songwriters Assoc. International (NSAI) Awards: Songwriter/Artist of the Decade Award (2000 - 2009) 2004 Songwriter/Artist of the Year Award Winner 2003 Songwriter/Artist of the Year Award Winner Oklahoman of The Year 2004 People's Choice Awards 2003 Favorite Music Video of the Year "I Love This Bar" 2005 Inducted into Oklahoma Hall of Fame TOBY RECEIVES AWARD Toby Keith was presented with the Native Son Award by the South Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. Recipients are recognized for their personal accomplishments for and in the state of Oklahoma. In addition to his musical accomplishments, the organization cites Keith`s participation in the rescue effort following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing as one of the reasons he was chosen to receive the honor. TOBY HONORED BY NASHVILLE SONGWRITERS ASSOCIATION Toby Keith was honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association International Monday September 18, 2000 for contributing $15,000 to the organization. The endowment will go toward helping to protect the copyrights of songwriters. Toby is challenging other artists to follow his lead and support the cause. 2004 Country Songwriter/Artist of the Year
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