Finally!
Tim McGraw has a lot to look forward to at the moment: the release of his first solo album in five years, a unique interactive livestream performance for his fans and his upcoming wedding anniversary to Faith Hill.
Country music's cutest couple will celebrate 24 years of marriage in October, "which we figure in our industry, it's like 82 years," Tim joked to E! host Erin Lim on Thursday, Aug. 20's Daily Pop. "It's kind of like dog years, you have to count each year as seven."
According to Tim, he and Faith—along with their three daughters, Gracie, 23, Maggie, 22, and Audrey, 18—have spent much of the past few months at home because of the coronavirus pandemic, although as "homebodies," they don't mind that much.
"Our date nights have really been cool for the last four weeks...we've had my three daughters in," Tim explained. "Everyone was tested and cleared and we came up on the hill here at the house and we never left. We sat outside, we set up tables outside, we played games, we watched movies. And we had a great time just hanging out."
He continued, "I mean, it was probably one of the most special times we've had as a family in a long, long time. And despite all the craziness going on in the world, we had a great four weeks together."
The 53-year-old has also spent his time reading, listening to podcasts, gardening and, oh—not to mention surprising front-line healthcare workers with virtual appearances and performances.
"We can all sort of hunker down at home and be safe and keep our family near and order food from Amazon and, you know, do all those kind of things that everybody does, but these guys have to go out to the battle everyday," Tim expressed. "And they have to go out and put not only their selves at risk but their families' lives at risk in a lot of ways or be away from their family."
"And I don't know that I would have that kind of heart. I don't know if I would have that kind of courage if put in that situation," he continued. "So if I could lift those guys up and they deserve to be lifted up, then I'm all for it because they do God's work, I think, in a lot of ways."
One of the songs Tim sang for nurses working in a COVID-19 unit was his new single, "I Called Mama."
The track appears on his album Here on Earth, which hits shelves tomorrow, Aug. 21.
Tim's last solo record came in 2015, and in the following years, he dedicated most of his time to his and Faith's first collaborative album, The Rest of Our Life and the subsequent tour.
"What happened was in the last part of our Soul2Soul tour, I started finding songs that were really starting to make sense to me and songs that were really starting to tell a story to me," Tim recalled, noting that performing with Faith makes him a better singer. "If I don't sing it good, she gives me one of those looks across the stage. And with her, she's one of the greatest singers in the world and I just sort of yell melodically."
He continued, "So we started going into the studio while we were touring and working on this album and the music started coming together...What I wanted to do was create these sort of tapestries of life that had these cinematic views that you could walk through—these scenes throughout this album—and really have sort of a cinematic view of life."
According to the country singer, some of the songs on the aptly titled Here on Earth "are like a 40,000 foot view of life and the overall, sort of question of 'Why are we here?' while others are more intimate and they get behind the heart and the head of relationships."
In addition to dropping his new album on Aug. 21, Tim is hosting "Here on Earth Experience," an interactive livestream experience where fans will be able to listen to songs both new and old, ask questions, hear the stories behind the record and more.
"We got tired of just sort of playing songs in our living room," Tim told Erin while explaining his vision for the event. "So we tried to figure out, how can we present a show that has really nice production, and a show that really gives you something visually, gives you something sonically...and present it in a way that's safe to everyone around that's working on it, and gives jobs to a lot of the folks that are struggling to find work at this time, and present something to the fans that they're not getting?"
Essentially, Tim was looking for a "hybrid" of in-person shows and regular livestream performances.
"So we started putting together this thing. It's much like a TV show, it's much like doing, I don't know, doing a concert special without being at a concert, I guess is the way to say it," he added.
"My team has done a fantastic job of putting this thing together," Tim continued. "I think people are going to be really entertained by it."
Hear more from Tim McGraw in the above Daily Pop clip!