Don’t miss Tim and Faith sharing a private moment for thousands of country superfans.
THEY DEBUTED THEIR NEW SINGLE IN VEGAS AT THE ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS. NOW FAITH HILL AND TIM MCGRAW COME BACK TO TOWN ON THEIR SOUL2SOUL TOUR. BY HEIDI MITCHELL
Faith Hill is a stay-at-home mom. The country singer may have five Grammys and more than two dozen chart-topping hits to her credit, but for the past decade, Hill has recorded in the studio, choosing her three daughters over the thrill of the road. The exception: when the opportunity arises to tour with her country mega-star husband Tim Mcgraw (who has three Grammys and countless hits to his name).
Now that their youngest is just about old enough to drive, Mcgraw says hitting the road seemed like a good idea. In April, they launched the third iteration of their record-breaking 2006 Soul2soul tour, which still claims the title of highest-grossing country music tour of all time, performed for more than 1.6 million people in 118 cities. “The 2006 tour was such an amazing spectacle, so how do you beat that?” asks Mcgraw en route to record in the studio. To match the stagecraft and excitement,
the pair rehearsed for more than a year and “built in a few surprises.” Faith does a solo set that Mcgraw says is “flat smoking every night” and they’ve pleasantly shocked concertgoers with unexpected tracks like the Aretha Franklin/ George Michael duet, “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me).”
The Mcgraw-hills have kept a few other balls in the air, like debuting their girl-power duet “Speak to a Girl” at the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas in April. It was just a taste of the couple’s first duets album, to be released later this year.
“Individually, the music we were making was going well,” explains Mcgraw. “So the timing was never right for a duet album. And, in retrospect, I’m glad we waited. As artists, you hope that songs that carry weight and have a message that is bigger than the artist find their way to you. When those songs come along, you feel privileged.”
Devotees of the couple’s very different approaches to country music can expect to hear a few musical favorites during their show at T-mobile Arena in July, and maybe a couple of tunes the two sang during their hugely popular two-year residency at Venetian in 2012.
“Faith makes me a better singer,” says Mcgraw. “I’m a Nascar and she’s an Indy Car. I’m a quarterhorse and she’s a thoroughbred. When we’re onstage together, I have to bring my A-game.”
July 13, T-mobile Arena; soul2soultour.com