Brad Paisley Celebrates the ‘Future’

Brad Paisley is celebrating two big anniversaries today. On Nov. 4, 2008, the country star released his first instrumental album, 'Play.' While in New York promoting the record, he witnessed the epic celebration of the first African-American to be elected President of the United States of America. Having a first-hand view of the city-wide euphoria was the inspiration for his recent No.1 hit, 'Welcome to the Future.'

Little did Brad know he would end up playing the song for President Barack Obama only a few months later. "If you had made me aware of that when we were writing it, it would've been a different song," Brad tells Country Aircheck (quote via GAC). "It would have been very hard to focus thinking about performing that in the East Room."

Brad says that even though the song is a huge success, it is easily misunderstood. "I caught a little bit of flack from some people that didn't quite understand, that thought for a second that maybe I was getting political with this song," he admits. "This isn't that. This is my tribute to the emotions of Nov. 4, regardless of where you stand. A year prior to the election, comments were made among friends and people that said to me, 'I kinda like that guy, but I just don't think this country's ready to elect a minority.' And on Nov. 4, we proved that we were willing to put things aside."

'Welcome to the Future,' Brad says, is a reminder that, regardless of your political views, progress is being made. "You've got my kids' generation, where you can explain to them that the president is black, and that's a remarkable thing. They're never going to understand, they're going to think 'Why is that a big deal?'"

Next week is a big deal for Brad, as he'll serve as host, performer and most-nominated artist at the CMA Awards, airing live on ABC on Nov. 11.