Tim McGraw will be taking fans on a journey with his upcoming album, Here on Earth, out Aug. 21. As the 53-year-old country crooner told Nischelle Turner, his LP is a collection of songs that makes a “sort of 30,000-foot view of life” and moments to dive in, get intimate, hear about relationships, small town life and more.
Mentioning songs like “L.A.” and “Hold You Tonight,” the creation and sounds behind them, McGraw explained that it “really made sense” for Here on Earth to be the title of the album. “But it also sonically made sense that it was like the lynchpin of all the rest of the music tying together.”
Inspiration for a number of songs come from his three daughters — Gracie, 23, Maggie, 22, and Audrey, 18 — he shares with wife Faith Hill.
“There are a couple of songs about California because I have two daughters out there and we have spent a lot of time [there over] the past couple of years,” McGraw explained. “Our oldest daughter, Gracie, has lived there for a while and is an actress, and our middle daughter, Maggie, has been out in Palo Alto… We spent a lot of time hanging out with those guys.”
And while he noted that it can be “a little lonesome” without his daughters, the songs “really speak to the landscape that we tried to build for this record.”
The past couple of months amid quarantine, however, have been nothing but special for McGraw and Hill, who have enjoyed spending quality time with their girls.
“It’s been so much fun because our three daughters have been home with us for the last month,” he marveled. “This morning our two California girls left to go back home, but Audrey’s still here. And we had a month of just staying here at the house… The girls set the table outside every night and made big meals. It’s nice to sit with your daughters, having a glass of wine and talking about politics and getting into these political arguments and discussions, and playing these games.”
“We had such a great time. It was, out of all this craziness that is going on right now, these last four weeks with my daughters — and their boyfriend and two of their friends they had with them and their dogs and my wife — just to hang out and talk and have that time together, will be something special for the rest of my life,” he reflected.
And while McGraw misses being on the road and performing for his thousands of fans, he’s already gearing up to host a virtual Here on Earth concert. The event will also include a pre-show party featuring Midland, Ingrid Andress and more special guests.
“We’re certainly gonna stay within the rules that we need to stay in to keep everybody safe. We’re gonna have some friends show up and a few surprises for sure,” the country superstar teased. “It’s gonna be a little bit about talking about the songs… We’re going to play some of the music off the new album in a sort of a stripped-down way, but we’re going to give you some cool production.”
As for his plans to do live shows, or possibly a drive-in concert like many of his fellow country stars?
“I would go see any of those guys at a drive-in concert. I love all of those guys,” McGraw said, before explaining, “I just want to go back and hopefully do it the way we used to do it. Now if we don’t, we will have to start looking at things differently. But I want to run on the stage and sort of explode! I am so excited to get out there and do that.”
