Brad Paisley Raises the Curtain on ‘This Is Country Music’

Brad Paisley will release his ninth studio album, 'This Is Country Music,' next month, so he's taking the opportunity to give fans a preview of the new disc, and what they can expect from it -- if the title isn't enough of a tip-off! Brad sat down with Boot contributor Deborah Evans Price for a Billboard cover story offering a glimpse into the album's title track and other songs on the collection, which the aspiring filmmaker likens to a cinematic adventure.

"The song itself is what inspired the album, which is the best way to have an album come about," says Brad. "'This Is Country Music' is track one. It sets the tone. And from then on, all the songs on the album fill certain slots and paint the rest of the picture. It's almost like that's the opening credits, and then you have the rest of the movie to follow."

Brad also reveals that the promise of a duet with Carrie Underwood ('Remind Me') has been something of a double-edged sword since fans found out about the track.

"I'm reading Twitter right now," says Brad, "and people are actually mad at me. They haven't even heard the song and there are a lot of Carrie fans that are upset it's not the next single and they've never heard it ... They're like, 'What a missed opportunity!' I wrote ... : 'Patience please, you haven't even heard it. Come on. It doesn't mean it won't be a single just because it's not next. Give me a chance. We have some great things in the works. It will happen when it's time. Have some faith.'"

Also on the subject of Twitter, which has become an ideal platform for Brad's singular wit, the singer says he reluctantly began tweeting at his record label's urging but quickly got hooked on the experience and the interaction with his increasing number of Twitter followers.

"It's a great tool," says the superstar. "It's not as effective as people thought at selling product. That's not why I do it. They found in studies that it depends on the person. People following Charlie Sheen may not buy things because he tells you to, but people following Oprah [Winfrey] would be more likely to run out and do it if she tells you to do it. It's interesting. I don't know where I fall in that -- probably somewhere between Charlie and Oprah. I don't use it for monetary or career gain. People see through that. I use it for observation and I use it in a way that my fans can see a little bit of my personality."

Brad also talks about other tunes on the album, including 'Eastwood,' which he told The Boot recently was written as an epic movie soundtrack-sounding Western," and naturally had to include the participation of the iconic film star for whom it is named.

"I've become friends with Clint and his wife, Dina. So I emailed Dina and said, 'Does he whistle?' And she said, 'Yeah, you want him to whistle on something?' I said, 'I have a thing that sounds like an Ennio Morricone, the guy that did all the spaghetti western music like 'The Good, Bad and the Ugly,' and of course it has to have [he whistles] all that kind of stuff. I asked, 'Can he do that?' She wrote back and said, 'He'd love to.'"

'This Is Country Music,' which features the current single, 'Old Alabama,' featuring country/pop supergroup Alabama, will be released May 24.

Download Brad Paisley Songs | Pre-order 'This Is Country Music'