“It's a very smart, progressive bunch, these people that make country music. They're not country hicks sitting behind a desk with a big cigar giving out record deals and driving round in Cadillacs with cattle horns on the front grille: it's a bunch of really wonderful, open-minded, great people down on Music Row that make this music.”

American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist

Brad Paisley is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He first found success in 1997, when he wrote David Kersh's "Another You". He later signed with Arista Nashville in 1998 and released his debut album, Who Needs Pictures, in 1999. That album began a run of 12 studio albums for Arista Nashville before the label closed in 2023 and he moved to EMI Nashville. His best-selling albums are Mud on the Tires and Time Well Wasted, both of which were certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.