Brad Paisley surveyed the 250 country radio executives and Music Row elite packed onto the top floor at Tootsies Orchid Lounge Sunday night and said, “You all better not forget this.”
Fat chance.
Paisley and his team rented out the top floor of the renown Broadway bar, invited John Fogerty, Bill Anderson and Timbaland to join Paisley on stage and spent more than 90 minutes covering Fogerty’s classics, Paisley’s most loved hits and songs from his new album “Love and War.”
“The thing I love about John Fogerty is that two notes in, you know it’s him,” Paisley said from the stage. “With me, it’s like 45.”
Earlier in the night, Paisley revealed he had partnered with Apple Music to also make “Love and War” country music’s first visual album — meaning he recorded a separate video for all 16 songs on the album. The clips range from hysterical to heartwarming and in diligently working towards the project’s completion, Paisley operated only a couple of hours a sleep each night for many nights in recent weeks. The radio executives were in town to see the video album’s debut at The Country Music Hall of Fame. When they gave Paisley a standing ovation at the end, the typically collected singer’s voice cracked with emotion.