Candid and talkative
Toby Keith has tangled with Peter Jennings and the Dixie Chicks over his music, criticized the media for its coverage of the Iraq war, tweaked the Country Music Association over awards snubs and threatened to flee his record label.
The 6-foot-4 former oil field worker, rodeo hand and semipro football player is candid and talkative and doesn’t seem to mind stepping on toes – anyone’s.
This day, he’s still sore about a February report in Rolling Stone magazine that referred to him as “the king of ultra-patriotic country” and said his 2004 concert tour – which brought in $27.7 million, second only to Shania Twain in country music – earned “mostly red state dollars.”
“The truth is – and we looked it up – we made a lot more money in the blue states,” he says. “We did more shows in the red states, but we made a lot more cash in the blue states.”
Keith, 43, feels he’s been unfairly portrayed by the media and his critics as a hardcore right winger. While he’s backed the American troops in his songs and supported President Bush’s re-election, he describes himself as a conservative Democrat who doesn’t always agree with the administration.
He’s campaigned for Democratic candidates back in Oklahoma, where he and his wife of 21 years, Tricia, live with their three children.
“I get brushed with this big, gigantic red, white and blue brush. But I don’t mind,” he says. “I look good in red, white and blue.”
Keith has sold about 25 million albums with a sound rooted in the whiskey halls and beer joints of the Southwest. Unlike most of his peers, he writes just about everything he records; he says he can’t imagine sifting through hundreds of songs to find a dozen or so that he likes and that reflect his personality.
His hits include the hawkish anthem “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” – a song inspired by his father’s death in a car accident in 2000, as well the 9/11 terrorist attacks – along with the boozy “I Love This Bar,” the patriotic “American Soldier” and the chest-thumping “How Do You Like Me Now?”
His new album, “Honkytonk University,” released Tuesday, has a harder country edge. There’s an old-school duet with his musical hero Merle Haggard, “She Ain’t Hooked on Me No More,” and a mid-tempo tune called “Big Blue Note” about a guy who finally comes to peace with a Dear John letter.
The second single, “As Good As I Once Was,” is a rumination on growing older and wiser. Its release symbolizes Keith’s frustration with his record company.
He left Mercury Records in 1999 because he was upset with the way his music was being handled. He went to DreamWorks, then an independent label, and became a superstar. Then last year Dreamworks was acquired by Universal Music Group Nashville – which has Mercury under its umbrella.
Keith says he approached things with an open mind but ran into trouble right away. He wanted “As Good As I Once Was” to be the first single; the folks at Universal, he says, thought it was too risky and chose the title cut.
“I had put out four or five albums without one A&R meeting. We put out what we wanted and it worked. So why would I have to change?” he says. “At this point in my career I’m not going to put up with it.”
While he won’t rule out a distribution deal with the music giant, Keith said, “Universal knows where they stand. I’ve got one more album (to fulfill his contract). After that, the next album is going to be on my label – period.”
By starting his own label, Keith wants to move closer to the business side of music. He says he’ll focus on signing songwriters, whom he believes are the forgotten backbone of country music.
What you probably won’t find Keith doing, despite his strong opinions, is entering politics.
“I couldn’t tick off the line,” he says. “My dad called it ‘glad-handing’ – walk up and smile and shake their hand whether you like them or not.
“If I don’t like you, I don’t like you. I don’t want to come up and shake your hand.”