Hit Single Hails From Honkytonk University
Which Celebrates Its 15th Anniversary This Week
View The Furniture Store Guitar Sessions here:
https://bit.ly/tobyFSGS
Singer, songwriter and entertainer Toby Keith is known for many things, but an encyclopedic knowledge of country music may be the least recognized. The chart-topping, multi multi-platinum, venue-packing, 2015 Songwriters Hall of Famer is also as close to a human country music jukebox as one can get. And fans are beginning to see that side of him in selfie videos Keith recently started posting online. But it almost wasn’t to be…Like the rest of the world, Keith found himself on the brink of lockdown in March. The problem, however, is he was in Mexico without any of his musical gear. Not a guitar in sight. Thankfully, a last-minute stop at a local furniture store yielded a used guitar – albeit one with bad action (strings are too high off the neck). Combined with a fortuitous case of quarantine boredom, The Furniture Store Guitar Sessions were born.Keith recently talked about taking time off of touring due to the shutdown on SiriusXM’s Sports From the Sidelines, “I’m trying to use it as an advantage instead of something I’m going to sit around and sulk about all day.”
Keith has been recording and posting videos from his own phone – more than two dozen so far with more to come. His latest post features his hit single “As Good As I Once Was.” Hailing from Keith’s 2005 album Honkytonk University which marks the 15th anniversary of its release this week, the album’s centerpiece held No. 1 on the charts for six weeks. A career and format shaping song, the platinum-certified “As Good As I Once Was” was recognized as BMI Song of the Year and has logged more than four million performances since its release. The song’s video was also recognized as Video of the Year. As for streaming, the video has more than 82 million views on YouTube alone, and in excess of 400 million plays across all platforms.
Coming soon to The Furniture Store Guitar Sessions will be Keith’s performance of another cut from Honkytonk University, “She Ain’t Hooked On Me No More,” a sentimental favorite on the album which is a duet with Merle Haggard. Written with Emerick, the song connected Keith with his musical hero in an indelible way. “We got done with it and I said, man this sounds like Haggard,” Toby said at the time. “I’d always wanted to do a duet with Willie and I’ve always wanted to do a duet with Merle Haggard. I got my duet with Willie, several times, but never with Merle. I thought, let’s see if he’ll do it. He loved the song when he heard it and said let’s get it on … I don’t know if it’s a radio song, but I know the fans are going to love it.”
The duet holds a prominent place in the relationship the two shared. More than their Oklahoma roots, a musical bond born of Keith’s tremendous respect for Haggard carried through. “He never did stray off the beaten path,” Keith told Billboard after Haggard’s 2016 passing. “He never quit writing the same style of songs. He was my idol.” Keith offered a number of musical tributes to Haggard, but perhaps the most telling took place two months before Merle’s death. Struggling with a respiratory ailment and worried he wouldn’t get through a full set in a Las Vegas ballroom, Haggard pulled Keith aside and asked which of the elder’s songs he could cover if needed. “All of ’em,” Keith said. “And I don’t need a teleprompter.” Haggard called Keith to the stage a few songs in and, true to his word, Keith stepped right in, joined Haggard, and didn’t miss a beat.
Friends, fans and media are taking notice of The Furniture Store Guitar Sessions. His cover of Hoyt Axton’s “Evangelina” was featured on Willie Nelson’s Come And Toke It live stream event April 20 (4/20, of course). CMT premiered a TFSG tune, “Clancy’s Tavern,” this past weekend. And Good Morning San Diego (KUSI) plays back every song on the playlist just after it’s posted on their television broadcast.
Toby Keith is staying put and encouraging others to do the same. “You’re helping the ones most at risk,” he says in one of his recent postings. “Including the ones at the OK Kids Korral.”
Check back regularly to see new performances posting every day.
The Furniture Store Guitar Sessions playlist to date includes:
Humidity Built the Snowman, John Prine (posted on 4/17)
I Won’t Let You Down, Toby Keith (4/18)
Ain’t No Sunshine, Bill Withers (4/19)
Evangelina, Hoyt Axton (4/21)
The Lord Knows I’m Drinking, Cal Smith (4/22)
Trailerhood, Toby Keith (4/23)
Nights I Can’t Remember, Friends I’ll Never Forget, Toby Keith (4/24)
Flowers on the Wall, The Statler Brothers (4/25)
Somewhere Else, Toby Keith (4/26)
Every Which Way But Loose, Eddie Rabbitt (4/27)
The Size I Wear, Toby Keith (4/28)
There Is No Arizona, Jamie O’Neal (4/29)
I Couldn’t Be Me Without You, Johnny Rodriguez (4/30)
Cabo San Lucas, Toby Keith (5/1)
Clancy’s Tavern, Toby Keith (premiered on CMT Hot 20 Countdown 5/2)
Joe Knows How To Live, Eddy Raven (5/3)
White Rose, Fred Eaglesmith (5/4)
Sing Me Back Home, Merle Haggard (5/8)
Just Get Up And Close The Door, Johnny Rodriguez (5/10)
I’ll Wake You Up When I Get Home, Charlie Rich (5/12)
(Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such As I, Elvis Presley (5/13)
Jaded Lover, Jerry Jeff Walker (5/14)
Daytime Friends, Kenny Rogers (5/15)
Fire on the Mountain, The Marshall Tucker Band (5/16)
As Good As I Once Was, Toby Keith (5/17)
God Love Her, Toby Keith (coming soon)
Losing My Touch, Toby Keith (coming soon)
Lost You Anyway, Toby Keith (coming soon)
She Ain’t Hooked on Me No More, Toby Keith (coming soon)
Closing Time At Home, Toby Keith (coming soon)
Don’t Let The Old Man In, Toby Keith (coming soon)