[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
DANA VETTER: So you'll go on the far side.
Hello, everyone.
Can you hear me?
Hi.
BRAD PAISLEY: Hi.
DANA VETTER: What a warm introduction.
My name is Dana Vetter.
I work on music programs on YouTube.
And I am thrilled to be joined by Brad Paisley.
BRAD PAISLEY: Hi.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
DANA VETTER: Not much introduction needed--
I think we have a lot of fans in the audience-- but
acclaimed singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician,
critically acclaimed, awards, et cetera.
So thank you so much for joining us at Google.
BRAD PAISLEY: Is that where we're at?
DANA VETTER: We are at the Googleplex here.
So let's just get started.
So I know you just got off the plane.
Let's just dive right in.
You're about halfway through your tour.
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah.
DANA VETTER: About--
BRAD PAISLEY: It seems like it, yeah.
DANA VETTER: I think, yep.
And so you're here in California.
We're thrilled to have you here
performing locally tonight.
But I want to actually talk about somebody
else's tour for a second.
A couple weeks ago, you joined The Rolling Stones on stage--
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah.
DANA VETTER: --in Philadelphia.
BRAD PAISLEY: They need more press.
Let's do that.
DANA VETTER: Well, I just want to know, how did that happen?
Like, did they call you?
Like, what is that moment like?
BRAD PAISLEY: They're desperate.
DANA VETTER: They're desperate, [LAUGHING].
BRAD PAISLEY: They're trying really hard
to matter in music.
And that's been what their whole tour is about.
They have had a lot of people do that in various cities.
They're the consummate sort of jam band.
I mean, they really are all about getting up there and
playing music and bringing it.
DANA VETTER: Um, hm.
BRAD PAISLEY: And then, on top of that, what's it sound like
to collaborate?
What's it like to bring in other formats of music?
And throughout the tour, it sort of ran the gamut of
people that sat in.
And we had a few country people.
We had a lot of rock and rollers, a lot of
blues guys, you know.
And you're seeing their influences,
which is kind of cool.
And then--
I'm not one other influences-- but I am influenced by some of
the same people they are, you know.
They actually have a very heavy country base--
DANA VETTER: Um, hm.
BRAD PAISLEY: --you know.
They were a great country band when they wanted to be, on
certain songs.
And there's this common language with us.
I've gotten to know Ronnie Wood pretty well.
I'm starting to get to Mick pretty well.
And it's like you realize that guitar is sort of the
universal--
DANA VETTER: Um, hm.
BRAD PAISLEY: --language of music.
Especially the guitar players have this really sort of
foreign thing.
My wife, as an actress, is envious.
Because she's seen me jump in with everybody from The
Rolling Stones to BB King, to you know, like Keb' Mo' is a
friend of ours.
And I'll just get up in the middle of a
blues night with him.
DANA VETTER: Um, hm.
BRAD PAISLEY: She's like, it's like you speak French.
DANA VETTER: Right, right, right, right.
BRAD PAISLEY: It's like this foreign language.
And you guys start, and then we get backstage, and it's
like, what pedal is that that you're using?
Well, that's brand new.
It's this new analog delay, and it's wonderful.
And the next thing you know, you're off in this--
DANA VETTER: Right, another language.
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah, this French competition that she
doesn't understand.
DANA VETTER: Well, it's interesting, because you're
one of these amazing country artists who's a great
singer/songwriter.
But like you said, you're a killer guitar lead.
BRAD PAISLEY: I didn't say that.
DANA VETTER: Well, I'm going to say that.
I'm going to say that.
BRAD PAISLEY: But like you said--
DANA VETTER: Well, right, right.
So this--
BRAD PAISLEY: This is like, between two ferns up here.
DANA VETTER: It is.
Between two screens here, so--
nap pods--
that's like, we have nap pods at Google, which is a place--
BRAD PAISLEY: Nap pods?
DANA VETTER: Nap pods.
BRAD PAISLEY: We have those on a bus.
Those are called bunks.
[LAUGHTER]
DANA VETTER: Right.
And so we were actually joking about between two ferns and
saying we should start one that's between two nap pods.
It's where you go and kind of take a rest.
BRAD PAISLEY: All right.
Bring 'em on.
DANA VETTER: Anyway, we can give you a tour of
the nap pods next.
And I know that some of the Grammys that you've won are
for some of the instrumental stuff.
So how do you balance, kind of, that, you know, the guitar
interest and then also, you know, your talents in singing
and songwriting?
BRAD PAISLEY: My sound man always accuses me of singing
to get to the next solo.
Because truthfully, when you've sung a song a million
times, like whether that be "Celebrity" or "Alcohol" or
one of these songs that go back a few years, you know,
there are only so many ways you can sing the verse--
DANA VETTER: Um, hm.
BRAD PAISLEY: --before people leave and think
you've lost your mind.
He's changing the melody too much.
But, and here comes the solos.
DANA VETTER: Uh, huh.
BRAD PAISLEY: And for me, it's like, I could add a little.
I could go into a pentatonic thing here and really make
that kind of cool.
O
DANA VETTER: So that's how you keep it--
BRAD PAISLEY: That's really the gist.
Yeah, and at our heart, my band and I are a bit of a jam
band, in spite of the technology that we use and the
video we've got to sync up with and the way that you've
got to keep the hits also recognizable.
DANA VETTER: Sure.
BRAD PAISLEY: There's always those moments in the show when
you can have free expression.
And I think that's what will keep me going.
You know, remaining nameless, there was a country artist
who's a big hero of mine that I had a
conversation with once.
And it was early in my career.
And I said, are you playing many shows this year?
And he said, yeah, I'm doing, you know, I
don't know, 40 or 50.
And he said, what about you?
I said, I'm doing 200.
Of course, when you're new, you do.
You'll play 200 dates a year just because you need to.
DANA VETTER: You need to.
BRAD PAISLEY: And people need to see you play.
DANA VETTER: Right.
BRAD PAISLEY: And he said, oh, golly, how do you do that?
And I said, well, you know, I love it.
And he said, give it time.
[LAUGHTER]
BRAD PAISLEY: And he's right about one thing.
There's parts of it that get old.
But one thing that never gets old to me is that I'm there
for sound check.
I mean, I can't wait to play--
DANA VETTER: Right.
BRAD PAISLEY: --and jam and see how my amps sound that
day, because every day is different, and make my guitar
tech go nuts, because I've got a new pedal I
want to try on a song.
And here he is, you know, and something will go wrong.
And a cable will get, you know, because
I messed with it.
But that's the fun of it.
DANA VETTER: That's great.
So let's talk a little bit about the tour.
At Google, we have this thing called the Dory.
And that's where we get Crowd-sourced questions.
So some of the questions I'm going to ask you are from the
audience, essentially.
And everyone will vote on if they like the question or
dislike the question.
BRAD PAISLEY: And what about the answer?
Do they vote on that?
Because that's really going to be disappointing.
DANA VETTER: So one question they had is what's it like to
play in California versus other places that you have
been touring?
BRAD PAISLEY: I would say-- and I run the risk of making
other people mad--
but I would say this is our favorite state--
DANA VETTER: Really?
BRAD PAISLEY: --four touring.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
DANA VETTER: You don't say that everywhere?
BRAD PAISLEY: I don't say that everywhere.
DANA VETTER: OK.
You heard it here first.
BRAD PAISLEY: I can't say that about another state.
I mean, it's fun to play Texas.
It's fun to play Georgia.
But there's always cities in those, and I won't name 'em,
but there's always a city in each of those states that I'm
talking about that you dread a little bit.
Because it's like they're a little jaded or they're--
DANA VETTER: OK.
BRAD PAISLEY: But it is not the case in California for us.
DANA VETTER: Cool, OK.
BRAD PAISLEY: There is not a bad place we play--
DANA VETTER: Great.
BRAD PAISLEY: --knock on wood.
DANA VETTER: That's great.
I love that.
And so, towards the end of the tour you're heading to
international destinations.
And another question from the Dory is, not many country
artists can fill as many seats as you can internationally.
And so--
BRAD PAISLEY: Feel as many seats?
DANA VETTER: Fill, fill--
BRAD PAISLEY: Fill as many seats.
DANA VETTER: Butts in seats, butts in seats.
BRAD PAISLEY: Gotcha, got it.
All right.
DANA VETTER: Or feel.
BRAD PAISLEY: Feel as many seats.
Yes.
DANA VETTER: So what do you attribute some of that to?
Could you speculate?
BRAD PAISLEY: I think it's always songs.
I think that the minute you start to think it's you and
not the songs you're singing is the minute
you're about to--
DANA VETTER: It's almost over.
BRAD PAISLEY: --you're about to pee in a bucket backstage
in a kitchen or something.
You know, you're about to get arrested speeding--
DANA VETTER: Ooh, a poker reference there.
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah, going through your subdivision, and
then flip off the cop, and, you know, I don't know.
Because you're starting to think it's you.
You're starting to think you're larger than life.
And truthfully, it's always about songs.
Because I have always been of the belief that any artist
that sang the 22 hits, you know, 22 chart
toppers I've had--
DANA VETTER: Um, hm.
BRAD PAISLEY: --would be a star, probably as big, or
maybe bigger than me, you know, in that sense.
Because I'm lucky that I found some that were wonderful.
I'm lucky to have written a few that really worked.
And it really comes down to that.
People, when they say, that's my story that you're singing.
Or we used this at our wedding.
Or, you know, we played this at a funeral, or we--
that's how you get people to go see you play.
DANA VETTER: That's how you get them in those seats.
BRAD PAISLEY: Songs.
DANA VETTER: Songs.
So speaking of songs that mean something to people, I grew up
in Kentucky.
I love "Southern Comfort Zone," which is one of the
hits off of your latest album, "Wheel House."
And I don't know if you guys have seen this video, but in
the video, you--
BRAD PAISLEY: The director is sitting right there.
DANA VETTER: Oh, OK, a director.
Where is he?
BRAD PAISLEY: That's our director Jim Shea.
He directed me.
DANA VETTER: So in this video, you mic up a tractor.
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah.
DANA VETTER: You've got cameos from an
elephant and some giraffes.
BRAD PAISLEY: Right.
DANA VETTER: And you hit eight countries in eight days, is
that right?
BRAD PAISLEY: We did.
DANA VETTER: So where did this idea come from?
Tell me about this video.
BRAD PAISLEY: That's one of the most unique, fun things
we've ever attempted.
And what that was, the song is about, for those of you who
are watching that may not know, the song "Southern
Comfort Zone" sounds like we're saying about drinking--
DANA VETTER: Right, SoCo.
BRAD PAISLEY: --alcohol in, like, the back of the truck.
But we purposefully, on this album, set out to write songs
that sort of zigged when you thought they would zag.
DANA VETTER: Um, hm.
BRAD PAISLEY: You know, they were supposed to be
unpredictable and new angles on topics.
And so the angle that we took with it was you are literally
really the most thankful for this place you're from when
you see the world.
And you appreciate new things about it.
Like you come back from a place like--
one of my charities I'm involved with is Haiti-- you
come back from a place like Haiti, and you're just excited
about the fact that your faucets work.
DANA VETTER: Right.
BRAD PAISLEY: You come back from Paris, and you think to
yourself, where's that bakery that's really
good, that's similar?
It's not quite as good, but it's similar to that--
DANA VETTER: --an inspiration, right.
Yeah.
BRAD PAISLEY: --that place. yeah.
Or Italy.
And you're like, I heard a new artisan coffee shop opened up.
I'd like to see if they're doing a cappuccino anywhere
near right, you know.
And you come back enlightened and with a new appreciation of
where you're from.
So how do you illustrate that in a video?
Ironically, around the time we were going to do the video, it
was time for me to go to Europe.
And we had a bunch of tour dates in London
and Sweden and Norway.
And I'm trying to think of where else.
DANA VETTER: France, I think, was in the video.
BRAD PAISLEY: Well, France is in the video.
We ended up just going there.
We didn't play there.
DANA VETTER: Oh!
BRAD PAISLEY: That was an excuse to spend a day--
DANA VETTER: --to run through the streets of Paris.
BRAD PAISLEY: --running through the streets of Paris.
And so all I knew, when we started the video, was I
called Jim.
And I said, here's this idea.
The idea is that it starts with a tractor.
The tractor is the groove of the song.
It established the click track with that.
I start the thing.
We mic it with an acoustic.
I hand the acoustic off.
I walk out of frame.
I'm throwing on a jacket.
And I walk into frame in, say, Stockholm--
DANA VETTER: Um, hm.
BRAD PAISLEY: --which is the first up of the tour.
So that was all I knew about that.
And then, we were going to wind up back at the
tractor at the end.
DANA VETTER: Fun.
BRAD PAISLEY: So whatever happens in the middle happens.
And so I edited that using an editing program on my laptop.
DANA VETTER: Really?
BRAD PAISLEY: --as we would shoot it, yeah.
Edited that myself.
DANA VETTER: You did?
BRAD PAISLEY: Yep.
DANA VETTER: Wow!
BRAD PAISLEY: We would shoot during the day.
We would go--
I'm a big tech nerd, so--
DANA VETTER: Love this!
BRAD PAISLEY: --very, very excited about being here.
[LAUGHTER]
BRAD PAISLEY: We would shoot during the day.
And we started in Stockholm.
And we got to Stockholm, and it's freezing.
And I know the jacket.
And I had a whole case full of jackets to choose from.
DANA VETTER: OK.
BRAD PAISLEY: And I knew that was going to be the--
DANA VETTER: --that you were doing your own
wardrobe, as well?
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah, basically.
DANA VETTER: This was like.
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah, that's all.
We had no crew whatsoever.
DANA VETTER: The Brad Paisley DIY video.
I love it.
It's amazing!
BRAD PAISLEY: It really was.
And all I knew is we were going to get to Stockholm.
And I was going to throw on the same jacket I was walking
out of frame in and make it match to where it looks like
one arm is in the jacket and the next arm comes in as you
walk across a bridge over whatever the river is.
And then came this idea of, well, I should run.
If I'm going through Europe, I mean, there's no way I'm going
to make it through all of these countries walking.
DANA VETTER: OK.
[LAUGHTER]
BRAD PAISLEY: So I take off running through the streets.
And then, I had Kendal, my keyboard player in the band.
I was like, OK, run bus.
And we would get a taxi.
And Jim would sit in, like, the trunk of the taxi with his
camera as the taxi would drive about 10 miles an
hour down the road.
And I'm just running behind it.
DANA VETTER: Yeah, I was wondering how all
those shots, really--
BRAD PAISLEY: And I would take off the jacket, and I'd, like,
run beside the taxi.
And I'd throw the jacket to Kendal.
And he would throw me another one.
And I would be putting it on as I'm trying to sing.
DANA VETTER: It really looks like--
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah.
DANA VETTER: --the video's real.
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah, and we would edit.
And we would get to, like, Dublin was the last city.
And we get to Dublin at the end of this week.
And we had one day.
And I'm editing.
And luckily, I was editing as we went.
DANA VETTER: And you have so much time when you're
on tour, I'm sure.
BRAD PAISLEY: We have at least flights.
And you definitely have downtime in the daytime.
DANA VETTER: OK, OK.
BRAD PAISLEY: You have at least all that.
And I'm sitting there editing.
And I went, I never threw the blue jacket off.
So here I am.
So we just treat it looks like Italy.
So here we go.
We went out and found, like, a cobblestone street in Dublin,
tried to make it look like the sun was out.
DANA VETTER: Oh, my gosh.
BRAD PAISLEY: And threw the jacket off there.
DANA VETTER: Oh, my gosh.
You had to do a little reshoot.
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah, so it was a little
pickup shot, you know.
DANA VETTER: I love that.
That's great.
So, yeah, if you haven't watched the
video, check it out.
It's not your average country music video.
I've got to give you that.
BRAD PAISLEY: No.
DANA VETTER: And a really creative edit.
I love the backstory.
BRAD PAISLEY: There's a ham of a giraffe in it.
There's a giraffe that is actually--
DANA VETTER: A what?
BRAD PAISLEY: A ham of a giraffe.
DANA VETTER: A hand?
BRAD PAISLEY: It's a ham.
I mean, this giraffe wants to be on camera.
DANA VETTER: Oh, a ham of a giraffe.
BRAD PAISLEY: If you have a camera--
[LAUGHTER]
BRAD PAISLEY: I don't mean an inedible giraffe.
It's more of a giraffe that really wants to be a star.
It's the giraffe at the Nashville Zoo.
His name is Congo.
And it's the biggest dog.
It's like a Great Dane.
But, you know--
DANA VETTER: But a giraffe.
BRAD PAISLEY: --two stories high.
DANA VETTER: Yeah.
BRAD PAISLEY: And if you have a camera, that
giraffe goes to it.
DANA VETTER: That's great.
BRAD PAISLEY: It's really bizarre.
It was just really--
DANA VETTER: I'll have to go re-watch--
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah, he's in it.
DANA VETTER: --and keep an eye out for the giraffe.
So that's a great story.
So another single--
I think your latest single, "I Can't Change the World."
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah.
DANA VETTER: So talk to me a little about the
origins of that song.
It soft of starts out with larger issues and then comes
kind of to a personal level.
BRAD PAISLEY: Well, when we launched this single--
it came out yesterday--
so it's brand spanking --
DANA VETTER: Latest.
BRAD PAISLEY: --new.
Latest, yes.
Latest as in, don't play it in concert yet.
They don't know it but hopefully will.
It sort of feels like, with every single, you have a theme
that you follow, that you chase as an artist, that will
take you four or five months at least, to go up the chart,
have people sort of start to recognize it and really sort
of digest it.
DANA VETTER: Um, hm.
BRAD PAISLEY: And this is an important one to me.
The hook of the song, for those of you who haven't heard
it, is I can't change the world, but I can change yours.
And you're singing it to a girl in the song.
It's a romantic notion.
But the opening line of the song is a bomb goes off in a
far off city.
And you deal with the fact that this world, basically,
thanks to the 24-hour news cycle and the connectedness of
technology, feels a lot crazier than it ever did.
DANA VETTER: Um, hm.
BRAD PAISLEY: Whether that's or not, I don't know.
I mean, you know, I imagine there were train wrecks in
Europe when I was a kid.
But I never heard about it.
If I did, it was a blurb in the paper--
DANA VETTER: Right.
BRAD PAISLEY: --days later.
DANA VETTER: Right.
BRAD PAISLEY: But we grieve in real time, with things that
happen in Indonesia, things that happen in Europe and
Afghanistan or you name it.
And it's all very overwhelming for a human being.
I don't know if we're equipped to sort of
internalize all of that.
DANA VETTER: All of it, yeah.
BRAD PAISLEY: You know, all of us have our own
situations in our lives.
And the singer of the song reaches the conclusion that
his cause is this girl and that he is going to make the
world a better place for her.
DANA VETTER: Um, hm.
BRAD PAISLEY: And in some ways, it's a larger theme for
life, in the sense that we're all sort of searching, I
think, for whatever it is that gives our lives meaning.
And I think that, truthfully, if you want your life to
matter, then maybe save someone else--
DANA VETTER: Um, hm.
BRAD PAISLEY: You know?
DANA VETTER: Right.
BRAD PAISLEY: Make else's life better, and yours mattered.
DANA VETTER: Um, hm.
BRAD PAISLEY: You know, and In that sense it's
a very large theme.
But it's meant to be romantic.
DANA VETTER: OK, great.
So you started out.
You grew up in West Virginia, right?
BRAD PAISLEY: Yes, right next to Kentucky.
DANA VETTER: Right next to Kentucky.
Yep, my family's from Elkins.
BRAD PAISLEY: Oh, congratulations.
[LAUGHTER]
DANA VETTER: Anyway, in West Virginia, you started out
playing at "Jamboree USA," right--
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah.
DANA VETTER: --which was an old weekly radio program.
BRAD PAISLEY: Yes.
DANA VETTER: So back then, I think you played on the
program for many years.
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah.
I started when I was 13 on there.
DANA VETTER: OK.
And so back then, you know, radio was a primary force.
And it certainly continues to be now, but as one of a number
of things in kind of the music landscape.
You have elaborate tours.
You have YouTube.
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah.
DANA VETTER: You have all the social media.
I mean, it's interesting that we're sitting here at Google
today, where so much is digital in technology and
video, and it's a far cry from when life was radio and three
stations on the TV.
So how do you balance all of these outlets?
And what's your approach, kind of, to bringing your music and
kind of also you through social media
and things like YouTube?
BRAD PAISLEY: It's interesting.
You know, it's a constant challenge to try and get
people's attention.
I mean, you can put all of this time into editing a video
where you run through Paris and have all of these sort of
segues through Europe and trying to sort of bridge the
southern mentality with the sort of world view.
And then, you're upstaged by, you know,
David at the dentist--
[LAUGHTER]
BRAD PAISLEY: --by a little kid that's--
DANA VETTER: Right.
BRAD PAISLEY: --on codeine.
[LAUGHTER]
DANA VETTER: You're like, oh, we almost had it.
BRAD PAISLEY: Right, right.
Yeah, you know.
Get it, or whatever.
And so it's an interesting time that way.
But also you have so many opportunities to get your
music out there.
I think it's always about connecting the dots.
And I'm a very complicated person.
I'm very hard to figure out in some ways.
I mean, I have songs that run the gamut.
DANA VETTER: Right.
BRAD PAISLEY: And some of them have made people mad.
And some of them have been completely misunderstood.
And some have been, you know, totally embraced.
And my fans have a really good idea of who I am, I think, at
this point.
And the goal is to try and get those people to misunderstand
me to find something there.
And, you know, Twitter is a great tool.
You have YouTube, which is such a great tool.
Because you can be in the middle of a tour and film, you
know, my drummer, I don't know, throwing up behind his
drum kit when he gets food poisoning.
And the next thing you know, that's bigger than the video
we just made--
DANA VETTER: Right.
BRAD PAISLEY: --or something.
And it's a great way to connect the dots and let
people feel a part of it.
Because they just want to feel a part of something, I think,
in this world.
I don't really know if we do it exactly right.
But if you have any ideas, this is the room to ask on how
I can make it better.
DANA VETTER: Well, I think you have a lot of content, I
think, on all of your social platforms.
And it seems that your videos are creative, and you're
finding a lot of ways to engage with people.
So I think it's great.
One thing, actually, I want to ask, and then we'll take a
question from the audience.
So on YouTube, you know about this thing on Google and
YouTube-- we have Autofill, right-- which populates some
frequent searches.
And this is one that I found.
And the Autofill is Brad Paisley pranks.
And it has--
BRAD PAISLEY: Oh, there's a bunch of that, yeah.
DANA VETTER: --Brad Paisley pranks Blake Shelton, pranks
Carrie Underwood, pranks The Band Perry.
It goes on and on, this long list--
I don't know if you guys can see it--
all the way to Brad Paisley pranks wife.
I mean, a lot of your songs are funny.
BRAD PAISLEY:
Pranks wife by proposing.
[LAUGHTER]
DANA VETTER: A lot of your songs are funny.
And you clearly have a pulse on humor and pop culture.
But what's the story with these pranks?
Did you grow up as a prankster?
Are you always watching your back on the road?
Like, what's the deal?
BRAD PAISLEY: I am watching my back.
Chris Young, as you know, is our opening act here tonight.
And he is just out of the hospital.
He had a staph infection.
And it was a scary thing.
But I talked to him this week, and he's doing better.
And I had heard rumors that he might have to do his show
sitting down this evening, which I was,
like, this is awesome.
Get water guns.
[LAUGHTER]
DANA VETTER: What a welcoming.
BRAD PAISLEY: You know, I'm on one of these people, that, I
like you if I'm picking on you.
DANA VETTER: OK.
BRAD PAISLEY: --and was always that way.
And I've always been a bit of a prankster, I think.
And I don't always come off like that.
But man, I could have worked for the CIA, I'm telling you.
DANA VETTER: You're a sleuth?
BRAD PAISLEY: --because my mind just thinks that way,
like, oh, you know what we could do to mess
them up, you know.
And we've done everything from, like with Kellie Pickler
opening for us, we created a fake intro video.
She had a video that was the typical, Kellie Pickler is--
you know-- was on "American Idol." And that
was her intro video.
And we changed it with a video called "You Be the Judge."
I took photos off WireImage and doctored her to where,
like, the early photos of her on "American Idol," we made it
look like a 12-year-old boy on the upper torso.
And then the post photos, we made her look like Dolly
Parton and interviewed a plastic surgeon and had his
opinion, Dr. Emerson Biggins.
[LAUGHTER]
BRAD PAISLEY: And he gave his opinion on whether or not she
had sought--
DANA VETTER: Enhancement.
BRAD PAISLEY: --enhancement.
And then, it just left the audience with questions.
So please welcome Kellie Pickler.
You be the judge.
DANA VETTER: You be the judge.
BRAD PAISLEY: And that was her intro video.
And she had to walk out wearing the tightest tank top
you've ever seen.
[LAUGHTER]
BRAD PAISLEY: And she's, like, cussing me out backstage.
DANA VETTER: Of course, of course.
BRAD PAISLEY: But we're good friends.
And she took it really well.
DANA VETTER: It's so funny.
BRAD PAISLEY: But that's the kind of stuff we do.
And it goes back to when I was five.
I pulled the ultimate prank on my mother.
My dad's here.
I pulled a prank on mother when I was five years old.
She told me I had to be-- and this is so wrong, but
it's so who I am--
I had to be in bed by 10 o'clock on New Year's Eve.
I was five years old.
I knew that all the action happens at midnight on New
Year's Eve.
DANA VETTER: Right.
OK.
BRAD PAISLEY: But she told my grandpa, who is my best
friend-- and he's watching me-- and her father, Put him
in bed at 10:00.
We're leaving and going to see his uncle in the morning at,
like, 8:00 AM.
I don't want him tired.
And I'm mad, because I wanted to stay up and see the ball
drop, you know, in New York.
And they leave.
And my wheels are spinning.
How can I stay up til midnight?
DANA VETTER: How can I stay up?
BRAD PAISLEY: And finally he asks me one time--
he goes back around.
My dad used to have this bar in the house--
and he sees the bar.
And I think he might be having a beer.
And he asks me, he says, Brad-- and we used to have
deep discussions-- does your mom ever drink alcohol?
And I said, all the time.
[LAUGHTER]
BRAD PAISLEY: And he said, what do you mean?
I said, all.
Sometimes, Dad has to carry her in.
[LAUGHTER]
BRAD PAISLEY: I don't know how I knew that.
And he's like, really?
And I went into detail about the nights when she's slurring
her speech and everything.
DANA VETTER: No, this is a YouTube video for that.
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah, I should recreate it with
little child actors.
And anyway, they get home at 1:00.
And I'm standing there and arms crossed in the kitchen,
wide awake.
He's kept me up for evidence.
And she walks through the door and says, what
are you doing up?
And he says, never mind him!
DANA VETTER: What are you doing?
BRAD PAISLEY: I didn't raise you like this, Woman.
[LAUGHTER]
BRAD PAISLEY: And then, she's like, well, what are you
talking about?
And he's going off.
My mother never drinks.
But she used to love Kahlua in her coffee.
And so I go find a bottle of Kahlua in the bar
and show it to him.
And he doesn't know Kahlua is.
He's an old, like, Kentucky redneck.
He's looking at it.
Its 80 proof.
That's all he needs.
This is hers.
And then, he goes off.
And my dad's saying, you're out of line, Warren.
And I remember this.
And he goes over to her.
He says, you did this to her!
[LAUGHTER]
BRAD PAISLEY: He storms off down the alley.
She goes upstairs crying-- and my dad, or,
no, he's still there.
My dad says to me--
or she's saying, Brad, tell him you're lying!
And I look at him and go, I wish I could, Mom.
[LAUGHTER]
BRAD PAISLEY: And then she goes upstairs.
He goes down to his house.
And I had to call him and apologize and
tell him I was lying.
And I got in trouble.
[LAUGHTER]
DANA VETTER: Oh, Happy New Year, right?
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah.
That's me.
DANA VETTER: So funny.
So we don't have much more time.
I think we'll take one question from the audience.
AUDIENCE: OK, I'll make it good then.
One comment and one question.
Number one, I love your shirt, because I think you have all
the Google colors.
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah, no kidding.
DANA VETTER: Oh, thanks for doing that.
AUDIENCE: You did it on purpose, I'm sure.
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Number two, here to hear Google really big on
work-life balance.
And you sound so busy, with writing songs, singing songs,
all of your tours.
So can you give us a little advice on how you do it?
BRAD PAISLEY: I sleep very little.
And that's not good advice.
But, I think that it seems busier than it really is when
you are in the public eye.
So I have people say, you must never see your family.
But I saw them yesterday, before I flew out.
And I'll see 'em again before the weekend's over.
And then, I'm home for four days.
And I'll cram.
And it's sort of like if I'm home four days out of seven on
any given week, I make sure those four days are a heavy
majority for my kids and wife.
And in that sense, I spend more time, maybe, with my kids
than somebody who has a 9:00 to 5:00 day job, that doesn't
get home til 6:00 or so.
And their kids probably go to bed at 8:00.
So they have, maybe, two hours at the end of the day, where
they got to catch up.
And in my case, you know, we have days together that are
all-day events.
And then, it's sort of like when the family goes to bed,
I'll write or I'll work.
And there's chunks of time where I work really hard
making an album for six months, where your mind is
sort of hazy and you're out there thinking about it.
And then, there's other times when I'm doing less.
And it is a challenge.
And wives are good at reminding you your balance is
off a little bit in a good way.
And your kids are good at reminding you of that, too.
You know, in the middle of the writing, I'll be typing a lot
of things in a phone or a tablet or something, and my
kids will say, you never look up from that.
And then, that's a sign.
It's like, OK, wait a minute.
I need to put that down.
Life is a balance, though.
And you are your balance.
You are that person, you know, I think.
You can't say, well, no, I'm really their dad.
I just never see them.
Then, you're not.
You know, you have to find that, I think.
DANA VETTER: So what's next for you?
Are you the type of songwriter where you have a lot kind of
going on, you're writing on the road, and you have a lot
of material, like, for your next album?
Or are you focused right now on the tour now, the "Beat
This Summer Tour" and "Wheelhouse," and then you'll
take a break?
What's kind of next for you?
BRAD PAISLEY: I'm not writing songs much right now.
Because I think that you have to recharge.
I heard a great songwriter once say you need input.
You know, just like any computer, it needs input to
have any sort of output.
And you have to live a little bit and observe especially,
read, which I just learned to do.
[LAUGHTER]
BRAD PAISLEY: It's a whole new world.
I mean, I'm learning right along with my six-year-old.
No, really, it's about that.
And so this is more of a absorption time--
DANA VETTER: OK.
BRAD PAISLEY: --for me.
But we have some really cool things we're about to do.
I can't really announce it yet.
But we're working on a really large way of illustrating this
new single in a way that is bigger than a music video and
is more of a strong sort of case for what the
point of the song is.
And, you know, in that sense, that's the fun part about
being in music, is I think music now can be this
multifingered thing, where you have all of these various
channels that you get to do if you are successful.
People know your name.
They're interested in what you're doing for some reason.
And anything you can do to help the point of something
you believe in is fun--
DANA VETTER: Um, hm.
BRAD PAISLEY: --you know, in that sense.
DANA VETTER: So when should we look out for this new thing?
BRAD PAISLEY: I think in a week or two--
DANA VETTER: Oh, soon!
BRAD PAISLEY: --we'll start talking about it, yeah--
DANA VETTER: Great.
BRAD PAISLEY: --if all goes well.
DANA VETTER: OK.
BRAD PAISLEY: We're sort of in talks to do something cool.
And if you don't hear about it, then it didn't happen.
DANA VETTER: And something fell through.
BRAD PAISLEY: Right.
DANA VETTER: Well, I think we're about out of time.
We're going to go give you a bit of a Google tour now.
But thank you so much for joining us.
[APPLAUSE]
BRAD PAISLEY: Thank you very much.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
BRAD PAISLEY: Thanks for doing what you do.
DANA VETTER: Thanks for taking the time.
[APPLAUSE]
BRAD PAISLEY: I never knew it took so many people to put,
like, white and blue search results up on a screen.
It's, like, crazy.
AUDIENCE: Like Texas.
DANA VETTER: There's thousands more of us, too.
BRAD PAISLEY: Yeah, I bet.
AUDIENCE: Like she just said.
BRAD PAISLEY: Thank you.
DANA VETTER: Thank you.