Brad Paisley learned his love of music from his grandfather. Growing up in West Virginia, Paisley loved to listen to his grandfather play the guitar. At the age of eight he was given his very own Sears Danelectro Silvertone guitar. By the age of 10 he was practiced enough to begin singing and playing for himself at church events and civic meetings for the Lion's Club and the Fraternal Order of the Elks.
Before he reached the age of 12 he had already started his own band, Brad Paisley and the C-Notes, with his music teacher and local musician Clarence Goddard. Paisley's songwriting career began at the ripe young age of 12 when he played his first self-written song, "Born on Christmas Day," for the local Rotary Club meeting. Luckily, one of the audience members that day was local country radio DJ Tom Miller.
Miller asked young Paisley to make an appearance on the popular Saturday night radio show Jamboree USA, on which Paisley soon became a regular. Paisley learned a lot from hanging out with his idols at the radio station and getting tips from country greats like Roy Clark and George Jones. Paisley continued his musical education at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.
While working on a music degree, Paisley made friends with Frank Rogers, who would later become his producer, as well as Kelley Lovelace, who is now a frequent songwriting partner. During his college years he earned money by singing and playing on demos of other up-and-coming artists. One such demo attracted the attention of the Arista label, and Paisley soon signed on.
In 1999 he released his first single, "He Didn't Have to Be," which soon reached number one on the country music charts. It helped boost the sales of his first album, Who Needs Pictures, which eventually reached platinum level sales. Also in 1999, Paisley achieved the dream of many hopeful country stars by performing at the Grand Ole Opry. By 2000, Paisley's fame was becoming more widespread. He was honored with the Country Music Association's Horizon Award, as well as the Academy of Country Music's Best New Male Vocalist trophy. He also earned a Grammy nomination in 2001 for the all-genre Best New Artist category.
Part II, Paisley's second album, was released in 2002, much to the delight of country music fans everywhere. The album is a continuation of Who Needs Pictures, with the first track of Part II literally picking up where the fiddle trails off in the last track of the first album. The album includes another chart topping single, "I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishing Song)," which shows Paisley's fans his down-to-earth humor. For those fans that enjoyed the humorous elements of his first two albums, the third album, Mud on the Tires, was a welcome addition to their CD collections. Released in 2003, this album features the single "Celebrity," which satirizes fame and reality television in a way only a country music star could do. The humor as well as musical talent of this young performer pleases audiences of all ages. Tickets for his shows have become a hot commodity for country music fans across the country. Why not? In the words of yet another album, enjoying a Brad Paisley performance would be "time well-wasted."
