Brad Paisley Shares His ‘Diary’

There's no other relationship quite like a guy and his guitar, and in his new book, 'Diary of a Player,' CMA's reigning Entertainer of the Year Brad Paisley chronicles his love affair with the instrument and the legendary guitarists who have shaped his artistry.

"They are all in there," Brad says of saluting his guitar heroes. "Every guitar player is a product of influences and this book deals with some of the major ones for me."

Published by Howard Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, 'Diary of a Player' hit shelves today (Nov.1). "It's really an inspirational book," Brad says of his new memoir. "I don't know that it was a guarantee that I would have made my way to the Opry or country music at all if it weren't for a grandfather who said, 'Don't let this get away from you. This could be the greatest thing that has ever happened to you in your life.' So I've tried to pay tribute to those people that are the guys that I wanted to be -- Vince [Gill] and Steve Wariner, Don Rich and James Burton. I've gotten to collaborate with everybody but Don Rich out of that list, and be friends with them and won Grammys with those guys. They are all talked about in the book."

Brad received his first guitar from his grandfather, Warren Jarvis, as a Christmas gift when he was eight years old. He wrote his first song at 12, and by the time he was 13, he was opening for the likes of Charley Pride, George Jones, the Judds and Ricky Skaggs. His grandfather's Christmas gift opened a world of opportunity for the talented young kid from Glen Dale, W.Va.

The book was co-written with David Wild, a Rolling Stone contributing editor and Emmy-nominated TV writer/producer. David is currently working with Brad and Carrie Underwood on the script for next week's CMA Awards show. "David is a great guy, and it was his idea. This whole thing was his fault," Brad tells The Boot with a smile. "I had no interest in writing a book. Last year when we were writing the CMAs he said, 'You should write a book.' I realized that I needed to read something like that when I was 10. There wasn't anything like that that basically said 'Here's what you can do if you practice,' which is really what this book ought to be called, 'Brad Paisley: Here's What You Can Do If You Practice.'"

Brad says the book differs from other celebrity memoirs. "It's not really an autobiography because it leaves out a lot of stuff," Brad says, "but it deals with anything that has to do with a guitar [including] my grandfather and how I got the guitar the first time, what it's like, what it's done, places I've gone with it and people I've met. There's a couple of moments that are pretty cool and I really open up at the end. I talk about his death a little bit, which I've never really described that before, and that gets me when I read that chapter."

Writing about his grandfather and the death of his Aunt Rita were hard for Brad. "Those two parts were rough," he admits. "It's really cleansing to write something like that down though. It felt right to talk about that and honor her a little bit, and the same with my grandfather."

In the book, Brad writes about seeing his grandfather before he died. He hadn't wanted young Brad to see him in the hospital and when Brad finally talked his parents into taking him, his grandfather wouldn't talk to him or look at him. "I'd never talked about that much either," Brad says, "and I hadn't actually thought about it very much, just the fact that he wouldn't look at me when I went into the room when he was dying because deep down he didn't want me to see him that way. Writing it brought it all back. It made me appreciate Hank, my teacher, and it made me appreciate my grandfather in a way that I couldn't have done."

Writing the book gave Brad an even deeper appreciation for the people who have impacted his life. "What I learned about myself is how many people collaborated to get me to where I am," he says. "In that sense, I'm glad that we did this because I'm sitting here today because of them."