There’s a lot happening this weekend for four-time GRAMMY Award winner Keith Urban; tonight’s finale of his “HIGH AND ALIVE WORLD TOUR” (at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville), today’s release of the HIGH deluxe edition and Sunday’s premiere of the new CBS Original THE ROAD in which Urban stars.
Urban marks the finale of his “HIGH AND ALIVE WORLD TOUR” with a deluxe edition of HIGH. Along with the studio recordings from HIGH, the deluxe edition features six live versions of songs originally recorded for HIGH, including “Straight Line,” “Go Home W U,” originally recorded with Lainey Wilson, and “HIGH AND ALIVE WORLD TOUR” standouts “Heart Like A Hometown” and “Messed Up As Me.” Two additional songs, performed on select nights, “Laughin’ All The Way To The Drank” and “Chuck Taylors,” also appear on the deluxe set.
Sunday sees the CBS Television Network premiere of THE ROAD (9:00 PM – 10:30 PM, ET/PT), executive produced by Taylor Sheridan, Blake Shelton, David Glasser, Lee Metzger and Urban, who also serves as the series’ headlining superstar. THE ROAD follows 12 musicians performing at concert venues across the country as Urban’s opening act, competing for a grand prize that includes a performance slot at a record deal, $250,000 and a performance slot at the Stagecoach Music Festival. Gretchen Wilson acts as the series “tour manager,” and Urban is joined throughout the season by executive producer Blake Shelton and country music stars Jordan Davis, Karen Fairchild, Dustin Lynch and Brothers Osborne, who guide these seasoned musicians, and along with a live venue audience, determine who advances to the next city.
“It’s whatever that word means to everybody. That’s what’s great about that word. It’s a great word, because it means infinite things to people, and my job is to get people to that state and however my audience gets there. We’ve played to so many different kinds of people and I just want them to get to that state of feeling elated, however they get there.
“I love how many interpretations go through a person’s head when they hear that word (High), and they’re all spot on. It conjures up different things to different people from a mountain top to just feeling phenomenal to a Willie Nelson concert, to whatever it is that you want to interpret that word to be. For me, they’re all spot on. They’re all spot on. I’ve never named an album after a song, ‘cause I always feel like that’s disrespectful to the other songs on the record. So far, I’ve never done it, and I wanted a good, strong, simple word that captured the energy and the spirit of the record, and that word I started hearing it in all these songs. In ‘Straight Line,’ it says, ‘Remember when this kind of high was us, babe?’ ‘Daytona’ says ‘Trying to find new highs, but I can’t fight that neon Florida sky.’ ‘Laughin’ All The Way To The Drank’ says ‘I’m on a Friday high, ‘cause I just got paid.’ So, it kept happening all through the record, and I thought, well, the one thing we agree on is that apparently is the destination. That’s where we all want to go to or get to, and how we get there is individual. That’s different for every one of us, how we get there, but we do want to get there. And I thought, well, that’s it. That’s what this record is. It’s HIGH.”
About MCA:
MCA, a division of Universal Music Group, represents a modern, artist-first approach to country music, building on the rich legacy of the Music Corporation of America. Under the leadership of Mike Harris (President & CEO) and Dave Cobb (Chief Creative Officer), MCA continues to shape the future of country music while honoring the traditions that have made the genre an integral part of American culture.
MCA includes the iconic labels MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, and Lucille Records. The label’s diverse roster features some of country music’s most influential artists, including Alan Jackson, Billy Currington, Brad Paisley, Brothers Osborne, Carrie Underwood, Carter Faith, Chris Stapleton, Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, George Strait, Jon Pardi, Jordan Davis, Josh Ross, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Luke Grimes, Maddie & Tae, Mickey Guyton, Nate Bargatze, Parker McCollum, Priscilla Block, Reba, Sam Hunt, Tucker Wetmore, Tyler Hubbard and Vince Gill.
