Tim McGraw Picks Tour Songs; Daughters Pick Lady A to Open

Tim McGraw is gearing up to hit the road on Feb. 11 for the launch of his first major tour since he and his wife, Faith Hill, shared the stage for the Soul2Soul2 tour three years ago. The upcoming Southern Voice tour has Tim fired up after spending the past few years focusing on his acting career.

"This is the first sit down and plan a tour and do it right tour we've done in a while," Tim told Lon Helton on this past weekend's Country Countdown USA. "I'm ready for it, though. I'm excited about it. It's been a while since we've gone at it real hard and done this. I think the fans are excited about it. We're excited about it. We're excited to play some new music. It's all fresh for us now."

Although he didn't reveal too many details, Tim does promise a little bit of everything music-wise for his loyal fans. "You can't always top [your last tour] and give them something bigger and better. It's not always about bigger and better. It's about content and some of the things you do video-wise. We're going to try to play the hits that everybody wants to hear. We're going to play a few album things that people really like. Maybe [play] a few new things off the 'Southern Voice' album, and then a few new things that are off an upcoming album that I'm working on now. We'll try to give you a good mix of stuff, and maybe one or two covers. I love doing covers. That's one of my favorite things to do is a little '70s rock 'n' roll song as a cover. I feel that fans want to see a whole variety of songs."

Tim's opening act will be CMA Vocal Group of the Year Lady Antebellum -- thanks, in part, to his 12-year-old daughter.

"I'm proud to have them on the tour," Tim says. "Plus, they've passed muster with my daughters. They're big fans of theirs, too. That's very important. In fact, Gracie was the one who was really, really tugging at me to make sure I got Lady Antebellum on tour with me. When you put together a tour, you're going through trying to pick somebody who matches well that you want to take out with you -- what's the best package, and who are the people that you like? Lady Antebellum have always been up at the top of my list. Gracie [said], 'Come on, Dad ... come on, Dad ... come on, Dad!' So yeah, they're big fans of theirs, and I'm a big fan."

The Southern Voice tour' runs through Aug. 15, visiting a total of 57 cities.