Album: Emotional Traffic by Tim McGraw (2012)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Curb Records
Format: Album

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2010s, Album, Curb Records


Album: Standing Room Only by Tim McGraw (2023)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Big Machine Records, LLC
Format: Album

Description: Tim McGraw is one of country music’s biggest superstars, but the award-winning artist still has plenty to share three decades into his larger-than-life career. His 16th studio album inspires hope, explores the resiliency of the human spirit and, perhaps most importantly for McGraw, encourages forgiveness as a radical and necessary act of love.

“I was trying to find songs that were inspiring and songs that were life-affirming,” McGraw tells Apple Music. “And songs that were about [how] we all make mistakes and we're going to make [more] mistakes and we're going to do bad stuff. All you can do is try to get up the next day and be the best you can be that day and know you're going to screw up again later down the road.”

McGraw plotted and recorded Standing Room Only during the pandemic, shortly after the release of its predecessor, Here on Earth, for which McGraw was unable to tour. The pent-up energy of lockdown, as well as the increasingly fraught state of the broader world, led McGraw to look inward, seeking songs that dug a little deeper into the beauty and the messiness that come with being human.

On the poignant, Lori McKenna-penned closing track “Letter From Heaven”, for example, McGraw considers intergenerational relationships both as a child to his parents and as a parent himself, a perspective that allows him to offer grace in the face of his own parents’ shortcomings. “She's got a connection with me about songs and about thoughts and about life,” McGraw says of McKenna. “We really connect on all sorts of levels.”

McKenna also features on “Nashville CA/L.A. Tennessee”, which she and McGraw wrote alongside his long-time acoustic guitarist Bob Minner. The nostalgic track has roots in an old Cadillac Escalade McGraw can’t bear to part with because the vehicle has “so many memories in it”, he says. “Hauling kids to football games and basketball games, softball games, baseball games, all that stuff.”

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2020s, Album, Big Machine Records, LLC

Tim McGraw is one of country music’s biggest superstars, but the award-winning artist still has plenty to share three decades into his larger-than-life career. His 16th studio album inspires hope, explores the resiliency of the human spirit and, perhaps most importantly for McGraw, encourages forgiveness as a radical and necessary act of love.

“I was trying to find songs that were inspiring and songs that were life-affirming,” McGraw tells Apple Music. “And songs that were about [how] we all make mistakes and we're going to make [more] mistakes and we're going to do bad stuff. All you can do is try to get up the next day and be the best you can be that day and know you're going to screw up again later down the road.”

McGraw plotted and recorded Standing Room Only during the pandemic, shortly after the release of its predecessor, Here on Earth, for which McGraw was unable to tour. The pent-up energy of lockdown, as well as the increasingly fraught state of the broader world, led McGraw to look inward, seeking songs that dug a little deeper into the beauty and the messiness that come with being human.

On the poignant, Lori McKenna-penned closing track “Letter From Heaven”, for example, McGraw considers intergenerational relationships both as a child to his parents and as a parent himself, a perspective that allows him to offer grace in the face of his own parents’ shortcomings. “She's got a connection with me about songs and about thoughts and about life,” McGraw says of McKenna. “We really connect on all sorts of levels.”

McKenna also features on “Nashville CA/L.A. Tennessee”, which she and McGraw wrote alongside his long-time acoustic guitarist Bob Minner. The nostalgic track has roots in an old Cadillac Escalade McGraw can’t bear to part with because the vehicle has “so many memories in it”, he says. “Hauling kids to football games and basketball games, softball games, baseball games, all that stuff.”

Album: 35 Biggest Hits by Tim McGraw (2015)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Curb Records
Format: Album

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2010s, Album, Curb Records


Album: Damn Country Music by Tim McGraw (2015)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Big Machine Records, LLC
Format: Album

Description: On his 14th studio full-length, Tim McGraw pens a love letter to his lifeblood and his line of work. Damn Country Music is a beautifully drawn set of intimate storytelling, panoramic choruses, and memorable duets—including opening highlight “Here Tonight”, which features vocals from McGraw’s daughter Gracie. Its title track in particular is one of McGraw’s finest to date, a slice of heart-wrenching perspective with imagery as gorgeous as the ribbons of steel guitar that halo it.

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2010s, Album, Big Machine Records, LLC

On his 14th studio full-length, Tim McGraw pens a love letter to his lifeblood and his line of work. Damn Country Music is a beautifully drawn set of intimate storytelling, panoramic choruses, and memorable duets—including opening highlight “Here Tonight”, which features vocals from McGraw’s daughter Gracie. Its title track in particular is one of McGraw’s finest to date, a slice of heart-wrenching perspective with imagery as gorgeous as the ribbons of steel guitar that halo it.

Album: Sundown Heaven Town by Tim McGraw (2014)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Big Machine Records, LLC
Format: Album

Description: On his second album for new label Big Machine, Tim McGraw delivers the sort of country-rock brawn and first-rate balladry on which he’s built a staggering 20-year career. Self-produced alongside longtime collaborator Byron Gallimore, Sundown Heaven Town is a supremely confident, gorgeously recorded collection that finds McGraw sounding as refreshed as he did on its relatively recent predecessor, 2013’s Two Lanes of Freedom. The opening highlight, “Overrated”, brims with beautiful touches: a gleaming banjo melody, warm layers of organ, a searing guitar solo, and a titanic and timeless chorus. Elsewhere, McGraw joins forces with his wife, Faith Hill, for “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s”, a tender duet and nostalgic single whose lyrical observations—simultaneously comforting and heart-wrenching—are just as rich.

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2010s, Album, Big Machine Records, LLC

Additional Context: Based on 2 votes

On his second album for new label Big Machine, Tim McGraw delivers the sort of country-rock brawn and first-rate balladry on which he’s built a staggering 20-year career. Self-produced alongside longtime collaborator Byron Gallimore, Sundown Heaven Town is a supremely confident, gorgeously recorded collection that finds McGraw sounding as refreshed as he did on its relatively recent predecessor, 2013’s Two Lanes of Freedom. The opening highlight, “Overrated”, brims with beautiful touches: a gleaming banjo melody, warm layers of organ, a searing guitar solo, and a titanic and timeless chorus. Elsewhere, McGraw joins forces with his wife, Faith Hill, for “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s”, a tender duet and nostalgic single whose lyrical observations—simultaneously comforting and heart-wrenching—are just as rich.

Album: Tim McGraw by Tim McGraw (1993)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Curb Records
Format: Album

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 1990s, Album, Curb Records


Album: Not a Moment Too Soon by Tim McGraw (1994)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Big Machine Records, LLC
Format: Album

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 1990s, Album, Big Machine Records, LLC

Additional Context: Available on Discogs marketplace


Album: Let It Go by Tim McGraw (2007)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Curb Records
Format: Album

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2000s, Album, Curb Records

Additional Context: Based on 2 votes


In April 2006, McGraw and Hill began their 73-concert 55-city Soul2Soul II Tour, again to strong commercial acceptance. The tour grossed roughly $89 million and sold approximately 1.1 million tickets, making it the top grossing tour in the history of country music. It was also named "Major Tour of the Year" by the prestigious Pollstar Magazine, beating out such heavyweights as Madonna and the Rolling Stones. In a special gesture, the couple donated all of the profits from their performance in New Orleans to Hurricane Katrina relief.

McGraw, along with Kenny Chesney, contributed to a version of Tracy Lawrence's song "Find Out Who Your Friends Are", which can be found on Lawrence's album For the Love. Although the official single version features only Lawrence's vocals, many stations have opted to play the version with McGraw and Chesney instead.

McGraw released his eleventh studio album, Let It Go, on March 27, 2007. The album's first single, "Last Dollar (Fly Away)", peaked at number one on the Hot Country Songs chart. This marked McGraw's first No. 1 single since "Back When" in late-2004. The album debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Top Country Album charts, marking his fourth No. 1 album on the 200 charts and his ninth overall. His daughters can be heard singing the chorus during the last few seconds of the song on the video.

During the Academy of Country Music awards show on May 21, 2007, McGraw performed a song titled "If You're Reading This", which he co-wrote with The Warren Brothers. Several radio stations began to play the live recording of the song; as a result, it entered the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart at No. 35.

McGraw also produced the debut album of country music duo Halfway to Hazard. The duo's first single, "Daisy", peaked at No. 39 on the country charts in the summer of 2007.

In the summer of 2007, McGraw and Hill toured together once again in the Soul2Soul 2007 tour.

In the January 18, 2008 edition of the USA Today newspaper, McGraw was stated to be featured on the Def Leppard album Songs from the Sparkle Lounge, having also co-written the first single, "Nine Lives", with Def Leppard band members Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, and Rick Savage. The unusual pairing goes back to 2006 when McGraw joined Def Leppard onstage for the song "Pour Some Sugar On Me", and then collaborated on the song "Nine Lives" afterward. The album was released on April 25, 2008.

At the 2007 50th Annual Grammy Awards, McGraw received 5 nominations including Best Country Album (for Let It Go, Best Country Song (both for "If You're Reading This" and "I Need You"), Best Country Collaboration with Vocals (with "I Need You"), and Best Male Country Vocal Performance (with "If You're Reading This").

In May 2008, he hit the road with the Live Your Voice tour. The mainly-outdoor arena concert tour was his first solo outing in nearly three years. Also in May 2008, he debuted a new song off of his follow-up to Let It Go at the Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio, California.

In July 2008, the album's sixth single and its title track, "Let It Go", was released to country radio. Following that, a seventh single, "Nothin' to Die For", entered the Country charts at No. 57 in late December. McGraw released his third greatest-hits package, Greatest Hits 3 on October 7, 2008. The album features 12 tracks. McGraw was set to debut a new song on the 2009 ACM Awards, but then cancelled his performance; he was replaced by Blake Shelton, who sang "She Wouldn't Be Gone".

Album: A Place in the Sun by Tim McGraw (1999)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Big Machine Records, LLC
Format: Album

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 1990s, Album, Big Machine Records, LLC


Two Lanes of Freedom" features a polished production style that blends contemporary country with elements of pop, creating an accessible sound. The instrumentation is rich, incorporating electric guitars, banjos, and layered harmonies that enhance the album's warmth. Tracks like "Truck Yeah" and "Southern Girl" showcase upbeat tempos and energetic rhythms, while songs such as "Nashville Without You" offer a more reflective, slower pace. The album's textures vary from the anthemic to the intimate, with a distinct clarity in the mix that highlights McGraw's vocal delivery. This balance of high-energy tracks and poignant ballads makes the album a compelling listen, appealing to a broad audience within the genre.

Album: Two Lanes of Freedom by Tim McGraw (2013)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Big Machine Records, LLC
Format: Album

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2010s, Album, Big Machine Records, LLC

Additional Context: Rating score: 7. Based on 2 votes


Album: Southern Voice by Tim McGraw (2009)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Curb Records
Format: Album

Description: As one of mainstream country’s most successful artists, Tim McGraw knows how to communicate his ideas with the perfect balance of country elements and the rock accents that have steadily infiltrated the music. He’s an unashamed sentimentalist, yearning for the moments he can never have back. “If I Died Today” wonders who would turn off his coffee pot among the other loose ends. “Forever Seventeen” struggles with the idea of aging. The piano helps ground the sentimentality and wisdom driving “I Didn’t Know It At the Time.” The opening cut, “Still,” resonates with an uneasy sense that time always has its limits. “Mr. Whoever You Are” uses the ache in McGraw’s voice for a sweet emotive turn. “Good Girls” and its cheating tale sails smoothly with its rock guitars huddling just under the mix that features plenty of modern day adult-contemporary touches. Only during Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger co-written tune, “It’s a Business Doing Pleasure With You,” does an unusually thorny McGraw surface atop the honky-tonk workout. McGraw easily handles it. But it doesn’t sound like the empathetic man we have come to know in song.

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2000s, Album, Curb Records

Additional Context: Based on 2 votes


As one of mainstream country’s most successful artists, Tim McGraw knows how to communicate his ideas with the perfect balance of country elements and the rock accents that have steadily infiltrated the music. He’s an unashamed sentimentalist, yearning for the moments he can never have back. “If I Died Today” wonders who would turn off his coffee pot among the other loose ends. “Forever Seventeen” struggles with the idea of aging. The piano helps ground the sentimentality and wisdom driving “I Didn’t Know It At the Time.” The opening cut, “Still,” resonates with an uneasy sense that time always has its limits. “Mr. Whoever You Are” uses the ache in McGraw’s voice for a sweet emotive turn. “Good Girls” and its cheating tale sails smoothly with its rock guitars huddling just under the mix that features plenty of modern day adult-contemporary touches. Only during Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger co-written tune, “It’s a Business Doing Pleasure With You,” does an unusually thorny McGraw surface atop the honky-tonk workout. McGraw easily handles it. But it doesn’t sound like the empathetic man we have come to know in song.

Album: Everywhere by Tim McGraw (1997)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Curb Records
Format: Album

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 1990s, Album, Curb Records

Additional Context: Available on Discogs marketplace


The singer's fourth album, 1997's Everywhere was released in 1997. It topped the country charts as well, and reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200, selling 4 million copies. The album spawned six singles. Four of those singles - "It's Your Love" (a duet with Faith Hill, the title track, "Where the Green Grass Grows", and "Just to See You Smile" - reached number one on the country charts. The Country Music Association awarded Everywhere its Album of the Year award for 1997. At the 40th Grammy Awards, "It's Your Love" received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals and Best Country Song. Both "It's Your Love" and "Just to See You Smile" were the number one country songs of 1997 and 1998 according to Billboard Year-End charts; "Just to See You Smile" also set a record for the longest run on the country charts at the time, at 42 weeks. The album's other two singles, "One of These Days" and "For a Little While" both peaked at number 2.

Album: Tim McGraw and The Dance Hall Doctors by Tim McGraw (2002)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Big Machine Records, LLC
Format: Album

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2000s, Album, Big Machine Records, LLC

Additional Context: Available on Discogs marketplace


Album: Live Like You Were Dying by Tim McGraw (2004)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Curb Records
Format: Album

Description: Some artists wait their entire careers to record an album as powerful as 2004’s Live Like You Were Dying. In Tim McGraw’s case, it took a decade’s worth of country music success to reach this level of emotional honesty and creative nerve. This album is easily McGraw’s most substantial work, a 16-cut exploration of faith, loss, endurance and fleeting happiness.

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2000s, Album, Curb Records

Additional Context: Based on 2 votes

Some artists wait their entire careers to record an album as powerful as 2004’s Live Like You Were Dying. In Tim McGraw’s case, it took a decade’s worth of country music success to reach this level of emotional honesty and creative nerve. This album is easily McGraw’s most substantial work, a 16-cut exploration of faith, loss, endurance and fleeting happiness.

Album: The Rest of Our Life by Tim McGraw (2017)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Arista Nashville
Format: Album

Description: After two decades of marriage and duets, country music’s power couple make their first joint album. With sugar-coated lullabies (“Sleeping in the Stars”) and tender tributes to long-haul love (“Damn Good at Holding On”, “The Rest of Our Life”), it’s a best-of-times portrait of a blissful marriage that seems fit for a black-and-white Hollywood flick. You’ve got to hand it to them: their wistful harmonies and impassioned hooks feel burning and sincere. In the Hill-McGraw household, maybe dancing in wheat fields under a half-moon is just another Friday night.

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2010s, Album, Arista Nashville


After two decades of marriage and duets, country music’s power couple make their first joint album. With sugar-coated lullabies (“Sleeping in the Stars”) and tender tributes to long-haul love (“Damn Good at Holding On”, “The Rest of Our Life”), it’s a best-of-times portrait of a blissful marriage that seems fit for a black-and-white Hollywood flick. You’ve got to hand it to them: their wistful harmonies and impassioned hooks feel burning and sincere. In the Hill-McGraw household, maybe dancing in wheat fields under a half-moon is just another Friday night.

Album: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2: Reflected by Tim McGraw (2006)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Big Machine Records, LLC
Format: Compilation

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2000s, Compilation, Big Machine Records, LLC


Reflected: Greatest Hits Vol. 2 is the second greatest hits album by American country music singer Tim McGraw, the first having been released in 2000. It was released on March 28, 2006.

Most of the tracks were recorded after the release of Greatest Hits, with the addition of two pre-2000 hits that were not on the first album — the No. 1 hits "Not a Moment Too Soon" (1994) and "Everywhere" (1997) — and four new tracks.

The album entered U.S. Billboard 200 chart at number two, selling about 242,000 copies in its first week. It entered Billboard's Top Country Albums chart at number one. On November 14, 2007, the album was certified 2 x Platinum in the US.

Album: McGraw Machine Hits: 2013-2019 by Tim McGraw (2020)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Big Machine Records, LLC
Format: Compilation

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2020s, Compilation, Big Machine Records, LLC


Album: Greatest Hits by Tim McGraw (2022)
Genre: Country
Record Label: BMLG Records
Format: Compilation

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2020s, Compilation, BMLG Records


In 2000, McGraw released his first Greatest Hits album, which topped the country albums charts for nine weeks and sold nearly 6 million copies, making this one of the biggest-selling albums in the modern country market. In the latter half of the year, he and Hill went out on the Soul2Soul Tour, playing to sellout crowds in 64 venues, including Madison Square Garden. The tour was one of the top tours of any genre in the U.S. It was also the leading country tour of 2000.

While in Buffalo, New York, McGraw and Kenny Chesney became involved in a scuffle with police officers after Chesney attempted to ride a police horse. McGraw came to Chesney's aid after police officers nearby believed the horse was being stolen and tried to arrest him. The two were arrested and charged with assault, but were later cleared. During a concert with the George Strait Country Music Festival several weeks later, Hill, dressed as a police officer, made an unscheduled appearance at the end of McGraw's set and led him off the stage.

Album: Set This Circus Down by Tim McGraw (2001)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Curb Records
Format: Album

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2000s, Album, Curb Records


Album: Here on Earth by Tim McGraw (2020)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Big Machine Records, LLC
Format: Album

Description: “You make a record emotionally; you make a record that has a visceral impact on you,” veteran country superstar Tim McGraw tells Apple Music. “But at the same time, you're trying to tell a story.” The tale he sought to tell on his 16th studio album, Here on Earth, was what he calls “a tapestry of life”: “Every little song's a vignette of different parts or experiences of life.” Consistently one of mainstream Nashville’s more serious-minded album-makers, McGraw attentively selected the songs and sounds alongside his long-time producing partner Byron Gallimore. They recorded the basic tracks the warm, old analogue way—on two-inch tape—but also did some elegant experimentation with reverb and effects. Says McGraw, “We wanted to marry a modern sound with that tactile experience and that grounded music that I grew up on and like so much.” Read on as McGraw tells the stories behind each track on Here on Earth. 
L.A.
“The very first song of the album, you hear L.A., and you hear those strings come in at the beginning, and then it puts you in mind of all those great Glen Campbell, Jimmy Webb songs, ‘By the Time I Get to Phoenix’ or ‘Wichita Lineman’. I think one of the great things about using a city or building a scene that the story is told in is it gives you a very cinematic point of view when you're listening to it.” 
Chevy Spaceship
“At first you think it's a little bit of a light song, but the more you listen to it, the lyric has sort of an angst to it, a teenage angst. You start thinking about all the things that you thought about as a kid—about getting out of where you're at, the parents don't understand, and all those things. You hear the interesting sounds that we used vocally and on the guitars and that sort of Elton John ‘Rocket Man’ sort of vibe, too.” 
Here on Earth
“It's definitely got an Edge/U2 thing to it, especially when it gets to that solo. I wanted to make a record that was a tapestry of life and all these little vignettes of life. That song didn't come till later, but it was sort of a glue that made everything make sense.” 
Damn Sure Do
“It reminded me so much of me and my wife in a lot of ways. All people do this in their relationships: You have a perception of what the other person thinks about, their perception of you. It's usually way different than what it actually is. But there's always this romanticised sort of an anti-hero feeling, that you want to think you're a badass, but you're really not. You think your wife thinks you're a badass, but she knows you're really not. I love some of the cool little sounds that we put in it that are sort of Terrence Malick-y, that dreamy, sort of floaty way he shoots movies.” 
Hallelujahville
“It told the story that we tell over and over in country music about our roots and where we came from and who we are, but I think what makes those songs work is letting anybody from wherever they're from build their own vision of where they grew up into it. Whether it's geographically the same place, emotionally it's the same place. This song and the way it was written hit all those buttons for me. With the keyboards that we did at the beginning of it, the strings on it and putting the gospel sounds in there as well, it just rooted it for me in a lot of ways.” 
Good Taste in Women
“When you do a fun song, what I've always tried to do throughout my career is make a really good record out of it. I wanted to put some meat on the bones of this one with the production. It's got some great musicianship in it that really draws you into it.” 
Hard to Stay Mad At
“[Songwriter] Lori McKenna, she sent me the song. It was just her on a little acoustic guitar playing it when she sent it to me. It didn't quite have the same groove. The Dire Straits sort of feel, those tones, happened in the studio while we were playing. That was one of the first ones that we recorded in that very first session that first day.” 
Sheryl Crow
“Something that's so good you just can't get it out of your head—that's what that song said to me. I love the melody, I love what it said. I mean, I love Sheryl Crow to start with, so when I got the title, I was curious about what the song was, of course. That's one of those things that when you just get in there and start jamming on it, it just comes right to you naturally, and it flows right out of you and you sing it. And Sheryl's heard it. She sent me a beautiful note about it.” 
Not From California
“The main reason that I recorded that song is just because I love singing it. I love the imagery of it, of course, but I just like the way it flowed and I liked the way the melody was to sing. That's important for me, because I'm not going to be able to go in there and just sing just anything and make it sound good. It's got to be something that fits me, that I feel like I can fit my soul into.” 
Hold You Tonight
“It's a pretty youthful-sounding lyric. But to me, being a guy who's been in this business for 30 years and that's 53 years old and been married for 23 years, it spoke to me about the long haul that you're in and the ups and downs and how you're there for somebody to be themselves, not to be their version of who you think they should be. To me, it was a lot deeper, sort of philosophical song about life in the long run.” 
7500 OBO
“This song, of course they're aiming it right at me, the songwriters. You hear the references: They had a version of the ‘Where the Green Grass Grows’ sort of fiddle, and they had some references to my songs and stuff in there. It took me a minute to get my head around that, saying, ‘Should I sing this song or should someone else sing this song?’ But at the end of the day, it was just a really good song. I wasn't sure how I would handle that kind of vocal cadence, but oddly enough, it was one of the easiest vocals I did on the whole record.” 
If I Was a Cowboy
“Everybody wishes, ‘Man, I wish I was that guy that just didn't give a shit about anything or anybody.’ Nobody's really like that, I guess. I just thought that there was a loneliness to the song that was needed on this record, this album. One of the things I like about this record is the octave vocal below the lead vocal in there. I think it just makes it a really masculine record.” 
I Called Mama
“When we cut the song, none of this was going on. But when all of this started happening, it changed the entire meaning of the song to me. The first verse puts you right into the world we're in today, with people getting sick. But it could reference any time in anybody's life, losing friends especially. For me, it's about my mom, because my mom's so important to me, and she's been the backbone in my life for a long, long time. Now I've got five women in my life that are the backbone. It turns into this sort of multilayered sort of song about reconnecting with people who are stable to you, people who can be a safety net for you when things sort of seem crazy.” 
Gravy
“The hook to ‘Gravy’ was just so perfect and special. I just had never heard it quite said that way before. [Songwriter] Tom Douglas, he's a poet and he's so good at what he does.” 
War of Art
“Those kinds of songs that are about the passion that you have for playing music and what it means to you. Music is my therapy in a lot of ways. To be able to go into the studio and have a song like that and sort of release yourself on it, it's a good medicine. I love the production. 'Perfectly imperfect' is a good way to describe it, because there are mistakes in it, but I didn't want to change anything. And I think there's a naturalistic sort of sound to it.” 
Doggone
“The song reminded me of Tom T. Hall a little bit, like ‘Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine’. Of course, I have always loved dogs. After all the things that are going on in life and all the craziness and all the ups and the downs and everything else, ending with a song about losing your dog and about him going to heaven, it just sort of brought everything back into perspective a little bit.”

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 2020s, Album, Big Machine Records, LLC

Additional Context: Rating score: 10. Based on 1 votes

“You make a record emotionally; you make a record that has a visceral impact on you,” veteran country superstar Tim McGraw tells Apple Music. “But at the same time, you're trying to tell a story.” The tale he sought to tell on his 16th studio album, Here on Earth, was what he calls “a tapestry of life”: “Every little song's a vignette of different parts or experiences of life.” Consistently one of mainstream Nashville’s more serious-minded album-makers, McGraw attentively selected the songs and sounds alongside his long-time producing partner Byron Gallimore. They recorded the basic tracks the warm, old analogue way—on two-inch tape—but also did some elegant experimentation with reverb and effects. Says McGraw, “We wanted to marry a modern sound with that tactile experience and that grounded music that I grew up on and like so much.” Read on as McGraw tells the stories behind each track on Here on Earth. 
L.A.
“The very first song of the album, you hear L.A., and you hear those strings come in at the beginning, and then it puts you in mind of all those great Glen Campbell, Jimmy Webb songs, ‘By the Time I Get to Phoenix’ or ‘Wichita Lineman’. I think one of the great things about using a city or building a scene that the story is told in is it gives you a very cinematic point of view when you're listening to it.” 
Chevy Spaceship
“At first you think it's a little bit of a light song, but the more you listen to it, the lyric has sort of an angst to it, a teenage angst. You start thinking about all the things that you thought about as a kid—about getting out of where you're at, the parents don't understand, and all those things. You hear the interesting sounds that we used vocally and on the guitars and that sort of Elton John ‘Rocket Man’ sort of vibe, too.” 
Here on Earth
“It's definitely got an Edge/U2 thing to it, especially when it gets to that solo. I wanted to make a record that was a tapestry of life and all these little vignettes of life. That song didn't come till later, but it was sort of a glue that made everything make sense.” 
Damn Sure Do
“It reminded me so much of me and my wife in a lot of ways. All people do this in their relationships: You have a perception of what the other person thinks about, their perception of you. It's usually way different than what it actually is. But there's always this romanticised sort of an anti-hero feeling, that you want to think you're a badass, but you're really not. You think your wife thinks you're a badass, but she knows you're really not. I love some of the cool little sounds that we put in it that are sort of Terrence Malick-y, that dreamy, sort of floaty way he shoots movies.” 
Hallelujahville
“It told the story that we tell over and over in country music about our roots and where we came from and who we are, but I think what makes those songs work is letting anybody from wherever they're from build their own vision of where they grew up into it. Whether it's geographically the same place, emotionally it's the same place. This song and the way it was written hit all those buttons for me. With the keyboards that we did at the beginning of it, the strings on it and putting the gospel sounds in there as well, it just rooted it for me in a lot of ways.” 
Good Taste in Women
“When you do a fun song, what I've always tried to do throughout my career is make a really good record out of it. I wanted to put some meat on the bones of this one with the production. It's got some great musicianship in it that really draws you into it.” 
Hard to Stay Mad At
“[Songwriter] Lori McKenna, she sent me the song. It was just her on a little acoustic guitar playing it when she sent it to me. It didn't quite have the same groove. The Dire Straits sort of feel, those tones, happened in the studio while we were playing. That was one of the first ones that we recorded in that very first session that first day.” 
Sheryl Crow
“Something that's so good you just can't get it out of your head—that's what that song said to me. I love the melody, I love what it said. I mean, I love Sheryl Crow to start with, so when I got the title, I was curious about what the song was, of course. That's one of those things that when you just get in there and start jamming on it, it just comes right to you naturally, and it flows right out of you and you sing it. And Sheryl's heard it. She sent me a beautiful note about it.” 
Not From California
“The main reason that I recorded that song is just because I love singing it. I love the imagery of it, of course, but I just like the way it flowed and I liked the way the melody was to sing. That's important for me, because I'm not going to be able to go in there and just sing just anything and make it sound good. It's got to be something that fits me, that I feel like I can fit my soul into.” 
Hold You Tonight
“It's a pretty youthful-sounding lyric. But to me, being a guy who's been in this business for 30 years and that's 53 years old and been married for 23 years, it spoke to me about the long haul that you're in and the ups and downs and how you're there for somebody to be themselves, not to be their version of who you think they should be. To me, it was a lot deeper, sort of philosophical song about life in the long run.” 
7500 OBO
“This song, of course they're aiming it right at me, the songwriters. You hear the references: They had a version of the ‘Where the Green Grass Grows’ sort of fiddle, and they had some references to my songs and stuff in there. It took me a minute to get my head around that, saying, ‘Should I sing this song or should someone else sing this song?’ But at the end of the day, it was just a really good song. I wasn't sure how I would handle that kind of vocal cadence, but oddly enough, it was one of the easiest vocals I did on the whole record.” 
If I Was a Cowboy
“Everybody wishes, ‘Man, I wish I was that guy that just didn't give a shit about anything or anybody.’ Nobody's really like that, I guess. I just thought that there was a loneliness to the song that was needed on this record, this album. One of the things I like about this record is the octave vocal below the lead vocal in there. I think it just makes it a really masculine record.” 
I Called Mama
“When we cut the song, none of this was going on. But when all of this started happening, it changed the entire meaning of the song to me. The first verse puts you right into the world we're in today, with people getting sick. But it could reference any time in anybody's life, losing friends especially. For me, it's about my mom, because my mom's so important to me, and she's been the backbone in my life for a long, long time. Now I've got five women in my life that are the backbone. It turns into this sort of multilayered sort of song about reconnecting with people who are stable to you, people who can be a safety net for you when things sort of seem crazy.” 
Gravy
“The hook to ‘Gravy’ was just so perfect and special. I just had never heard it quite said that way before. [Songwriter] Tom Douglas, he's a poet and he's so good at what he does.” 
War of Art
“Those kinds of songs that are about the passion that you have for playing music and what it means to you. Music is my therapy in a lot of ways. To be able to go into the studio and have a song like that and sort of release yourself on it, it's a good medicine. I love the production. 'Perfectly imperfect' is a good way to describe it, because there are mistakes in it, but I didn't want to change anything. And I think there's a naturalistic sort of sound to it.” 
Doggone
“The song reminded me of Tom T. Hall a little bit, like ‘Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine’. Of course, I have always loved dogs. After all the things that are going on in life and all the craziness and all the ups and the downs and everything else, ending with a song about losing your dog and about him going to heaven, it just sort of brought everything back into perspective a little bit.”

Album: All I Want by Tim McGraw (1995)
Genre: contemporary country
Record Label: Curb Records
Format: CD

Artist Background: Artist from US, known for contemporary country, country, country pop, pop, country

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: contemporary country, 1990s, CD, Curb Records


Album: All I Want by Tim McGraw (1995)
Genre: Country
Record Label: Curb Records
Format: Album

Related Artists: Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1990s era. Associated with Country movement.

Tags: Country, 1990s, Album, Curb Records


McGraw's third studio album, All I Want was released in 1995. Just like its predecessor, this album also debuted at No. 1 on the country charts. The album even sold over 2 million copies in the United States and reached the Top 5 on the Billboard 200. The album's first single, "I Like It, I Love It", became McGraw's third number one on the American country charts and it also peaked at number 25 to the Billboard Hot 100. The album's next two singles, "Can't Be Really Gone" and "All I Want Is a Life" (its partial title-track) both made the top 5 at numbers 2 and 5, respectively. The fourth single, "She Never Lets It Go to Her Heart", gave McGraw his fourth number one on the U.S. country charts in 1996. Finishing off the singles was "Maybe We Should Just Sleep on It", which peaked at number 4.

In 1996, McGraw headlined the most successful country tour of the year, The Spontaneous Combustion Tour, with Faith Hill as his supporting act. Hill broke off her engagement to her former producer Scott Hendricks so that she and McGraw could start dating each other; they then married on October 6, 1996. The couple have since had three daughters: Gracie Katherine (born May 1997), Maggie Elizabeth (born August 1998), and Audrey Caroline (born December 2001). Gracie appears on "Here Tonight", the first track on McGraw's 2015 album Damn Country Music.

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