In celebration of the release of his new album Love Is Everything–which hits stores Tuesday, May 14–George Strait is our Impact artist this week.
Produced by Strait and Tony Brown, Love Is Everything is Strait’s 40th studio album. In an interview with GAC’s Storme Warren provided exclusively to Radio.com, Strait talked about the album, the songs, and what message he was after with the title.
“That says it all pretty much right there,” Strait says of the title. “Because love is everything.”
He’s seated in a brown leather chair, dressed in jeans, checkered shirt, and white cowboy hat, and he answers questions without hesitation, with his familiar laid-back drawl.
“The world revolves around love,” he goes on. “Whether it’s love for your family, your wife, or your husband, or kids, or your dogs, or your cats, or your horses…whatever it is, it revolves around love. And love is something that, if you lose it, it’s going to hurt. So I just thought it was a great title.”
Among the 13 songs on the album is Strait’s current hit single “Give It All We Got Tonight.” Written by Tim James, Phil O’Donnell and Mark Bright, the song has been rising in the charts since its release last October. In fact, a campaign is underway called 60 For 60, to help the song become Strait’s 60th Number One single while he is 60 years old (he turns 61 on May 18).
“It is a little risque,” Strait admits of the song with somewhat of a sheepish smile. “I’m sure you’ve been parking before…but that’s kinda what it’s about.” He laughs, adding, “being 60, I’m going, ‘I’m not sure if I can pull this off or not.’ But I think it came off alright.”
The last song on the album is “When the Credits Roll,” which echoes themes in previous Strait songs such as “Troubadour” and “The Cowboy Rides Away.” The latter is of course the name of Strait’s farewell tour, which runs through 2014.
“This one fit pretty closely with the ‘Cowboy Rides Away’ idea,” Strait explains. “It does say a little something, ‘When the credits roll, and the show is over, and I see all the parts I played/Get a glimpse of my soul, up on the screen, I only hope I can say/I was a little less villain and a little more hero.’”
And speaking of his tour, Strait calls it “fun” but also “a little bittersweet.”
“But I’m taking it all in, I’m soaking it up, man. And the crowd is giving it to me,” he laughs. “They are! They’ve been great.”
And, he says, he’s not taking anything for granted. He is fully aware that the ability to do a tour like this is “so special” and “something that not a whole lot of people get to experience.”
He says he’s always aimed for “longevity,” in the manner of his heroes like Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and the late George Jones. He says that the “longevity” he has enjoyed so far is thanks to his fans. “They’re so great, they’ve just supported me all these years like nobody’s business.”
“I’ll see fans I saw in 1981, ’82, when I first started going out,” and now, he says, “I saw them on this tour! It’s just amazing.”
Love Is Everything track listing:
1. I Got A Car
2. Give It All We Got Tonight
3. Blue Melodies
4. I Just Can’t Go On Dying Like This
5. I Thought I Heard My Heart Sing
6. That’s What Breaking Hearts Do
7. When Love Comes Around Again
8. The Night Is Young
9. Sittin’ On The Fence
10. I Believe
11. Love Is Everything
12. You Don’t Know What You’re Missing
13. When The Credits Roll
Love Is Everything is available for preorder on iTunes.
