Garth Brooks surprised almost everyone at the end of the year with talk of…well, a LOT of things in the works.
He always said he’d stay off the road till girls went to college. Well, his youngest will finish high school this year and when she goes off to college in the fall, Garth says he’ll, “stick the key in the engine and fire it up to see what we’ve got.”
That doesn’t mean that 2014 isn’t going to be busy. Here’s what we know:
1. His multi-disc set, ‘Blame It All On My Roots: Five Decades of Influences’, released in November topped the sales charts for much of December
2. He might release an album of new material in 2014. There’s one big hurdle first and that’s…
3. He won’t work with iTunes. He says, “I’ll never have a digital partner in iTunes as long as they keep the same rules they have now. I respect them; they’re friends of mine. They show me respect. They make me believe they’re friends of mine. But if they’re not going to change their ways, I’m not going to change mine. We have to figure out how we get new music to the people.”
4. Then there’s this big….something… . “There is something that could be happening between now and the tour that might be the biggest thing I’ve ever tried to take on.” I’m excited. If it comes to fruition, and it looks like it’s going to, it will be the biggest thing I’ve ever tried to attempt. I’m really excited about it. It’ll be done right, it’ll be done quality. I’m in love with the idea and we just have to see if it’s going to happen. We’ll know within the next four weeks or so.” That was in late December. Perhaps by the end of January we’ll know what it is.
5. Finally, he’s said that the World Tour would begin in Fall 2014. A lot has changed since he last hit the road. Starting with ticket prices: “I’ve always been proud of our low ticket prices. But today a family of four can’t go to a show without taking out a second mortgage. Maybe it’s through sponsorships, but our job is to figure out how to get prices down. Because there’s parking, dinner and you want a T-shirt – Jiminy Christmas, you’re in over your head already. And I don’t think a fun evening that makes.”
One things for certain, when Garth Brooks decides to do something, whether it be an album or a tour, he generally gets it done his way. 2014 will be an interesting year to watch and see how he makes all the pieces come together.
One thing you can count on, when he decides to announce all the details, we’ll let you know all about it here in Q Country.
