Tim McGraw is currently enjoying a Top 15 hit with his latest single, “Standing Room Only.” The father of three performed the song at CMA Fest last month, with his performance also part of the CMA Fest TV special, streaming now on Hulu.
“Standing Room Only” is the title track of McGraw’s forthcoming new album, out on August 25.
“For me, this song is so positive and life-affirming,” McGraw said of the song. “It caught my ear the first time I heard it. I hope it can be a reminder to live a life filled with gratitude, and not take things for granted … I hope you love the message as much as I do.”
“Standing Room Only” might be life-affirming, but it’s part of an entire project that McGraw says can be described by that phrase as well.
“This album is all about life affirmation, about being the best person you can be, McGraw told Audacy Throwdown. “It tells stories. It’s very cinematic, is probably a better word … I think from start to finish the whole album has a cinematic quality, where you can create your own movie and paint your own picture with every song.”
McGraw also just released “Hey Whiskey” from Standing Room Only, a song he says resonated with him the first time he heard it.
“When I first heard it, it just blew me away, ’cause it made it a character,” McGraw said on Apple Music Country’s Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen of the song, which was written by Joel Hutsell and Brad Hutsell. “It’s your nemesis and your best friend, which is what that is, which is what addiction is. It’s your nemesis and your best friend at the same time. To make whiskey a character in a song, like a real-life character that you’re talking to, is something that I’d never heard before.
“I’m sure there are songs out there that have done that,” he added, “but the way it was written, and what it said, was so heartfelt and meaningful … I had a visceral reaction to it. And that is the very first tracking vocal, of the very first time we ran through the song. We kept every bit of it, and it’s because it was so raw and so emotional.”
The Louisiana native has only released two songs from Standing Room Only, but he does hint that all of the songs will point towards his love of traditional country music.
“There are some really good, sort of throwback country things on this that I really enjoy doing, and got into my George Strait vein a little bit,” he hinted. “There’s a good mixture of stuff. I always try to do that with every album. I never want to just have one style of song on the album. I want to give you sort of a smorgasbord to choose from.”
All of McGraw’s music and upcoming shows can be found at TimMcGraw.com.
Read ‘Tim McGraw: 11 Things to Know About the Singer and Actor’ here.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of CMA / Hunter Berry
