Brad Paisley at Assembly Hall Tickets

Brad Paisley will be the first to tell you he's led a charmed life-that everything just seems to fall into place for him. What he doesn't say-although it gradually becomes evident-is that his run of good fortune has been enhanced enormously by hard work, astounding musical talent and a clear, unwavering vision of where he wants to go.

"Ancestry," says Paisley. "The perfect example is my first single, "Two People Fell In Love," which is about the fact that you can trace everything back to two people's romance. The reason you're here, the reason I'm Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall here is our parents saw something in one another, fell in love and we're the product. It goes back to everybody that's ever been born. It's like a snapshot of real life that's set in motion because you see it happening. Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall You hear these stories throughout the song there's three different scenarios about people that fell in love Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall and changed their little part of the world by doing so."

Another song from Part II that virtually drips with history is "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive." "In this song, you see it as you go back in time to when great granddad walked down Katahrins mountain and asked Tillie Helton to be his bride. You hear the story of that family's migration and attempts to get out of that coal town and how they almost never can."

Another nod to roots on this album is "Too Country." Paisley first heard Opry legend Bill Anderson sing this song, which he wrote with Chuck Cannon, while playing a writer's night acoustic show at the Grand Ole Opry Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall with Anderson and songwriter Dean Dillon. The song made a powerful impression on Paisley. "It made me think of talks with my grandfather," he says. "Talking about a simpler time."

Hearing Anderson sing the song gave Paisley an idea. He would record the song for Part II and ask Anderson and Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall two other country legends, Buck Owens and George Jones, to perform it with him. They agreed.

"Brad's vision from the very beginning was to have us old timers . . . er, legends . . . sing the song with him," Anderson laughs. "I love the way it turned out. My only wish is that the four of us can get together and perform it live somewhere. Anywhere, anytime, I'll be there!"

"Too Country" is filled with sweet lines such as: "Are the biscuits too fluffy? Is the chicken too fried? Is Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall the gravy too thick? Are the peas too black-eyed?" But this song is more than just a nod to nostalgia. It is a strong statement proclaiming that it's okay to be "country." This is a conviction Paisley has voiced publicly many times.

Brad Paisley is country. In life and in music. Especially music. Many people in the country music community, including none other than George Jones, refer to Paisley as the torchbearer for traditional country music. Paisley responds to this enormous compliment in his usual mild-mannered way. "I'm proud that's the category they're putting me in," he says. Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall "I don't know if I'm worthy of torchbearer but I feel proud to be one of the artists that they consider to be on that side of the fence. Because that was my goal setting out. I wanted Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall people to recognize what I did as reminiscent. These (legends) mean everything to me."

Paisley's love of country music and his penchant for talking about it has Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall unintentionally landed him in a few media controversies this year. It began when during his acceptance speech for the ACM's "Top New Male" award he stated that the only place he wanted Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall his music to be played was on country radio. What was meant as an exuberant "thank you nod" has been misinterpreted by some as a criticism of those whose songs fit the pop Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall format.

"I want my songs to be played on country radio because that's what I listen to," Paisley says. "It's as simple as that. If someone else wants to make Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall a pop record, great! Let them! I hope their album sells great and I Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall hope they're somewhere near the P's in the album bin!"

Paisley was born and raised in Glen Dale, West Virginia, a Mayberry-esque (pop. 1800) town. When he was only eight years old, his grandfather, a Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall nightshift railroad worker who spent his afternoons playing guitar, gave him a gift: a Sears Danelectro Silvertone guitar with an amp in the case. Young Paisley mastered it quickly Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall and soon he and his guitar were inseparable.

At age 12, he wrote his first song, "Born on Christmas Day," which he performed in church. Soon Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall after, he sang at a Rotary Club meeting where the program director for the local country station heard him and invited him to play on WWVA's "Jamboree USA," the Wheeling-based station's Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall Grand Ole Opry-style Saturday night radio show. The young prodigy wowed the live crowd and became a regular for eight years, opening shows featuring big name country artists such as Roy Clark, Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall George Jones, Little Jimmy Dickens and Steve Wariner. Paisley says he learned invaluable lessons hanging out with the headliners, especially Wariner, who many years later would Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall serve as host the night he was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.

"I could see his talent and passion Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall even then," says Wariner. "Back when he was a little boy sitting around Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall backstage picking with us, he was so totally focused."

For six years, beginning at age 14, Paisley also played the "Jamboree in the Hills" music festival in the outskirts of Wheeling, West Virginia, Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall which attracts 60,000 plus country music lovers every year. He opened Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall shows for dozens of top acts at the festival, from Reba McEntire on down.

By age 20, Paisley was a local celebrity Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall as well as a second-year student at West Liberty State College. But he yearned for Music City. So he transferred to Nashville's Belmont University and enrolled in the Music Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall Business Program.

While at Belmont, Paisley met Frank Rogers, a fellow-student who became his producer. Working together for Brad Paisley Champaign tickets Assembly Hall more than two years, the two compiled a catalog of songs, some of which they wrote together, some with other writers.

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