As much as he enjoys singing about the double lives of computer geeks (“Online”) and amorous country boys (“Ticks”), Brad Paisley says there’s too much going on in the world to be too lighthearted on his new album, “American Saturday Night.”
“I think this country has turned on a dime in a way that none of us foresaw coming a year ago,” said Paisley, whose sons are 2 years old and 2 months old. “I think all of that and the birth of a son and the bold new times we’re living in . . . it’s hard to ignore.”
Paisley, who co-wrote all 14 new songs, visits those serious themes more often than before, inspired by the historic election of President Barack Obama and the worldwide economic turmoil.
The title track celebrates diversity (“It’s a French kiss, Italian ice margaritas in the moonlight, just another American Saturday night”) while “Welcome to the Future” offers social commentary (“I had a friend in school, running-back on a football team, they burned a cross in his front yard for asking out the homecoming queen”).
The first single, “Then,” his 10th straight to hit No. 1, is a romantic letter to his wife, actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley.
“This is maybe more heartfelt this time. I didn’t even write any liner notes on this album, I didn’t write any description of it, I didn’t write any thank yous. I feel like it’s all in the record.”
Paisley carries the personal touch to the CD cover, which shows him holding a brush in front of a painting of city buildings and distant hills. He sketched the design himself and painted it in about an hour in his barn.
“It was just this idea that meant as much to me as the songs do, to be able to have a cover,” he said. “That’s another piece of me you’re seeing standing there holding that paintbrush.”
