Toby Keith talks about Clancy’s Tavern

The singer says his new album has a lot of emotional value.

LOS ANGELES:

Toby Keith grew up in Oklahoma where a man’s handshake is his word, family is of utmost importance and opinions are welcome.

Keith has never been shy when it comes to his music, his assertiveness is one quality that has served him well over the years and continues to do so today as he nears the release of his new album, Clancy’s Tavern on October 24.

As a young artist, Keith asked to be let out of his contract with Mercury Records when executives didn’t like his album, How Do You Like Me Now? because they thought women would view the title track’s lyrics as disrespectful.

But How Do You Like Me Now? went on to attain gold status by selling more than 500,000 units and Keith went on to sell 25 million albums for his new label Dreamworks.

The 50-year-old Keith has headed his own label, Show Dog-Universal since 2004 and has several other ventures to his credit.

Forbes magazine named Keith the top-earning country music artist for the past year, putting his earnings at $50 million. Keith’s enterprises include his I Love This Bar and Grill chain of restaurants and his Wild Shot premium mezcal liquor that is imported from Mexico.

The singer’s latest CD, Clancy’s Tavern’s title song tells the story of his hard-working grandmother and her tavern where he fell in love with music. “Her husband died and left her with three kids, four and under. She left them with her parents and went to Arkansas, where she worked as plant manager,” Keith said.

Another song, “Made in America”, extols the virtues of American-made products. The single is almost at the top of Billboard’s country singles chart. Keith heads for Europe at the end of October to promote Clancy’s Tavern with his first stop in Edinburgh on October 30.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2011.