Tim Mcgraw Staying Ahead In The Count

To be a major player in country music today, according to singer Tim McGraw, you have to be different.

“You have to keep pitching (the listeners) different songs,” McGraw says. “When I was first starting out as a new artist, it wasn’t that easy. After all, it’s a lot easier to throw them a curveball when you’re ahead in the count. Now I’ve got an advantage, because I’m an established artist. I can throw them a song that’s different and a little unusual.”

The baseball analogies come easily for McGraw, 32, the son of former major league pitcher Tug McGraw. On his previous four albums, McGraw has made a name for himself by consistently delivering hit-making romantic ballads mixed in with offbeat songs in a country-rock style he calls “turbo tonk.”

“I’m a big ‘70s rock fan,” McGraw says. “I think ‘70s rock has been a great influence on today’s country music. When I was growing up, right alongside of the country albums in my collection you’d find rock and pop albums. So both of those styles of music influenced me. My music is just a product of the music I grew up listening to.”

McGraw’s new album, “A Place in the Sun,” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s country chart in early May and has been in the top 10 since. The first single, “Please Remember Me,” also hit No. 1, and it, too, remains a Top 10 fixture. Surprisingly, even though McGraw has succeeded with virtually every single he’s released over the past five years, he still has a few doubts about how each song will be received by his fans.

“I wouldn’t say that I’m completely rid of my uncertainties when it comes to one of my singles being released,” he says with a laugh. “I don’t think all the uncertainty ever will completely dissipate in that regard. Everything I’ve been doing over these past seven years I’ve learned from. While I don’t consider myself a great vocalist, at this stage in my career I feel I know something about how to play the game. I always feel confident about the music that I’ve recorded and what I’m releasing. Because I wouldn’t put it out there if I didn’t.”

By all indications, McGraw can rest assured that “A Place in the Sun” will quite possibly equal or exceed the sales of his previous triple-platinum album, “Everywhere.”

“I’ve learned over the making of the first four albums how important it is to give yourself time to make a record,” McGraw says. “With all of the commitments an artist has, you just can’t wait until the last minute.”

The one commitment McGraw places above his music career is his commitment to his wife, singer Faith Hill, and their two young daughters, Gracie and Maggie.

McGraw’s own parents never married. Growing up in Delhi, La., the singer was raised by his mother and didn’t learn who his father was until later in life. Now that he’s a father himself, he’s determined to be there for his kids.

“I can’t imagine not being with my girls,” McGraw says. “I can’t imagine not watching them grow up or even not being with them for a little while. If I’m gone from home for three or four days, it almost breaks my heart. I just can’t imagine not being there to see everything they do and all of the progress that they make. That’s more important than anything in the world for me.

“I think growing up without my father around made me realize just how important it is to be a father who is there for his children when they’re growing up. I want my grandkids to come back to us and hear them say, `Hey, we’ve got a great set of parents and grandparents.’ For Faith and I, that’s more important to achieve then anything else in the world.”

Finding himself in the spotlight with fame and fortune has made McGraw want to teach his children the virtues to humility.

“You know, our children have privileges that a lot of other children don’t have,” he says. “To me, the single most important thing — because I think everything revolves around it — is being a good person and having the respect of people because you are a good, humble person.

“We want to teach our children that everybody is not as fortunate as they are. And that everybody has the right to be treated with dignity and respect. I think if we can teach our children that, then we as a family have got everything going for us.”