(Plus, he dishes on his still, as-yet-untitled 11th LP.)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This is your ninth year cohosting the CMA Awards.
What keeps you coming back each year?
BRAD PAISLEY: This is an itch that I like to scratch.
I went to [Jimmy Kimmel Live!]
a few months ago and did a song called Sit by Your Man.
We rewrote [Tammy Wynettes] Stand by Your Man to [protest] the North Carolina bathroom laws.
Theres not a big line between my music and this.
Stand-up like humor has a long history in country music.
That must lend itself well to hosting duties.
[Country artists] are supposed to be on the same level as our fans.
You dont see that in other genres.
I dont want to see my pop stars doing some of the things we do!
[Laughs]
Its a milestone year for the CMAs.
How will the ceremony honor that?
Ive never seen a show more hand-tailored to reverence than what we are doing this year.
Everything is meant to pay homage to [country musics] history.
And weve brought a lot of these acts back.
There are people in this show that havent been part of an awards show for 20 years.
And there will be tributes to late greats likeMerle Haggard?
Oh, yeah, youll see.
We lost Merle [this year], but there are tributes to everybody.
Theres some George Jones in here, some Patsy Cline, some Conway [Twitty].
Are you and Carrie Underwood crazily involved with the planning?
Were always thinking about this.
Do you have fond memories of watching the awards growing up?
Youre also working on your 11th studio album.
This album has some very heavy stuff.
We deal with veterans, we deal with death, and we deal with divorce.
The album includes a duet with Demi Lovato.
What was it like working with her?
We both work real hard to get it right.
She must have sung this 30 times.
But whats crazy is that I dont think theres a limit to her range.
Its like shooting hoops with LeBron.
And I learned to play piano for it!
Because you needed that part, thats such a haunting little thing.
I practiced at night after [my family] would all go to bed.
The CMA Awards air Wednesday, Nov. 2 on ABC at 8 p.m. EST.
