Pop Talk by George Varga

There are key differences between a really big accomplishment and a really meaningful one, and Brad Paisley has no doubt that he prefers the latter.

Over the past decade, this fleet-fingered guitarist, singer and songwriter has won three Grammy Awards, sold 10 million-plus albums, scored 14 consecutive chart-topping songs and won a combined 23 Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association awards. His tour last year outsold tours by The Police, Tina Turner, Coldplay, Kanye West and AC/DC, but was ranked lower in revenue tallies because he insisted his average ticket price be no higher than $40 per seat.

Paisley is grateful for his success. But the biggest gig of his career so far, at least in his eyes, was also one of the smallest. It took place in front of fewer than 400 people in Washington, D.C., on July 21.

That was when he and bluegrass queen Alison Krauss performed in the East Room at the White House for an audience that included President Obama, Mrs. Obama and assorted dignitaries. (The event, part of the first lady's Music Series for Education, can be viewed online at whitehouse.gov and on youtube.com.)

"More than anything, it was humbling," Paisley recalled. "It was such a pride-filled moment for me to be standing there, in front of the leader of the free world, and to be one of the short list of people who have actually done a concert inside the walls of the White House.

"Plus, I got to stand on stage in the White House and say: 'You're the first president my two young sons will remember.' That tells you how different their lives will be and how their perceptions will be so different than mine."

What made the night more meaningful for Paisley was the song he performed, "Welcome to the Future," which he wrote early this year after being inspired by President Obama's election last November.

A highlight of his eighth and latest album, "American Saturday Night," the song also inspired a six-minute video that intersperses a performance of the song with a variety of American children saying what they'd like to be when they grow up.

The lyrics of "Welcome to the Future" address everything from recent technological advances to how Japan — a nation Paisley's grandfather fought against in World War II — is now a longtime ally of the United States. But the most touching couplets are about the civil rights advances that have been made just since Paisley, 36, was a high school student in Glen Dale, a West Virginia town that at the time had a population of only 1,800.

Set to an uplifting melody and an infectious chord sequence, the song concludes:

I had a friend in school / Running-back on a football team / They burned a cross in his front yard / For asking out the homecoming queen / I thought about him today / Everybody who's seen what he's seen / From a woman on a bus / To a man with a dream

Hey, wake up Martin Luther / Welcome to the future / Hey, glory glory hallelujah / Welcome to the future.

"I remember talking to people before the election about who they liked," Paisley said from Los Angeles.

"Invariably, someone would say: 'Do you think the country is ready to elect a black president?' And we'd think: 'It would be nice, but I don't know.' (After the election) you just felt like the world had reached some sort of moment you will never forget in your life.

When I look at this world, I try to find the positives. You can find the negatives every day on the news."

An avid music fan, President Obama was moved by Paisley's rendition of "Welcome to the Future." So moved, in fact, that while the two had met before the concert at the White House, the president sought Paisley out after his performance.

"He couldn't have been nicer," Paisley said. "I don't know how familiar he was with what I do (musically). But he said 'Those were really wonderful words you sang.' "

Paisley seemed momentarily taken aback when asked if he was one of the rare country music stars who publicly admits to being a Democrat.

"No, I'm staunchly moderate," he said. "I'm conservative on some issues and liberal on others. I don't like the extremes on either side. I didn't like it when they bashed President Bush and I don't like it when they bash Obama."

What Paisley likes best, musically speaking, is to play his guitar. A master of the Fender Telecaster, he is able to write infectious, well-crafted songs with broad appeal that also allow him to demonstrate his six-string prowess.

"I'm a songwriter who plays the guitar and sings, although my first love is the guitar playing, more than the other two things combined," he said.

"I think that's because the creativity that comes with improvising on the guitar and playing my own leads is a different experience every night. Singing hit songs, there's only so much you can do to them — as far as changing them around — before people complain. With the guitar playing, you can be as creative as you want."

As for keeping his ticket prices low, Paisley is a populist.

"The people who pay $100 for a ticket watch and listen in a different way," he said. "I want them all. But I really want the ones who can only afford $40, people who are hardworking and don't have an overabundance of money. My songs are about them, about real life, and to overprice tickets is a disservice to the people who like this music the best."

To find out more about George Varga and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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