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Born: July 8, 1961, in Clinton, Okla.
Sounds like: Bored high-school bullies hanging out in the summer.
For fans of: Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Clint Black, Trace Adkins
Latest release: Bullets in the Gun (2010)
Why you care: Chances are that, as a blue-state WW reader, you only care because you'd like to spit on Keith and all his rah-rah, Bush-era warmongering bullshit. Surely Keith deserves the ire for ugly, hateful tunes like "Courtesy of the Red White and Blue (The Angry American)." But for all his "Big Dog Daddy" posturing, Keith seems to have developed a slightly more nuanced worldview in recent years. While 2009's American Ride engages in bumper-sticker politics (the title song acknowledges global warming—more than most Republicans are willing to do—but also contains the line "plasma gettin' bigger/ Jesus gettin' smaller/ Spill a cup of coffee/ Make a million dollars"), it also contains Keith's smartest war song to date ("Ballad of Balad"). Last year's Bullets in the Gun abandons politics—OK, so there are some gender politics involved with penning the lyric "get out of your clothes/ Or get out of my car," even if Keith is being coy—and damn if it's not a solid, twangy showcase for Keith's substantial singing and songwriting chops that reminds of an era before country, rock and pop music forged into one indistinguishable mess. Perhaps Keith, who just turned 50, is going soft. Or perhaps he's just tired of writing songs with expiration dates attached to them. In any case, if he hadn't already alienated half the country, Keith might just have made some new fans with this one.
SEE IT: Toby Keith plays the Sleep Country Amphitheater on Friday, Aug. 19. 7 pm. $33-$89. All ages.
WWeek 2015
