Tim McGraw has found success in many careers. Recently he's been spending a lot of his time pursuing his acting career. He stopped by The Bobby Bones Show today (April 8) to share stories from his recent time on set, his first solo tour in 6 years, and discuss important moments of his career.
Every time McGraw does a new creative project, he admits it ups the ante for what he expects of himself whether it's going on tour, releasing new music or acting. McGraw has been spending most of his time in recent months working on the Yellowstone prequel TV show 1883. He spent around 6 months working 14 hours a day with minimal hours of sleep on the project. He was still trying to keep his body in pristine shape sharing that he would wake up every morning around 2 to 3:30 a.m. just to work out before the show's filming call time around 4/4:30 a.m. Then he would film the show until around 7 p.m. at night, eat, go to bed and wake up to do it all over. While there's no real difference between acting on a TV series vs. a movie for McGraw, he admitted this TV series in particular was the hardest job he's ever done. Also one of the most rewarding, sharing that he felt like he was getting to live out every little boy's dream of being a cowboy while riding horses every day on set and playing a "badass" character. McGraw added that his wife Faith Hill constantly blew him away while filming the show. He loved getting to act with her all day, then go home with her, lay in bed, and talk about the filming they did that day. The beard McGraw wore during the show was his real beard, but it's normally a solid gray so they had to constantly dye it to match the right color while on set. By the time filming had wrapped, McGraw confessed he was ready to be done and the first thing he did upon wrapping was shave his beard.
Despite the big movies and TV shows he's worked on, McGraw has never taken an acting class or lesson. He got some acting practice from doing his music videos, but admitted they're still very different situations. He also never graduated from college, but he did get an honorary doctorate at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
Now McGraw is focusing his energy on touring. He's headed out on a solo headlining tour for the first time in 6 years. And because of his commitment to working out, McGraw doesn't have to spend much time getting his body ready for tour, though he does have to keep his mind fresh to remember all of the words to his hit songs. Before him and his team hit the stage, he shared that he likes to make sure they're all in the zone so it feels almost like the locker room before a big game. Fans will likely hear "I Like It I Love It" on McGraw's tour, but it turns out he almost didn't record the hit song. He thought it was too much of a novelty song especially after recording "Indian Outlaw," so he originally didn't want to record it because he didn't want to become the novelty song guy. He was convinced otherwise and he's happy about that because it's now one of his biggest songs he performs on stage. "Humble and Kind" would be the song McGraw would choose for any non-fans to listen to, adding that it's always been one of his favorites. On the other hand, his recent project Here On Earth is his favorite album he's ever made. His most resent song "7500 OBO" is different than any other music he's worked on. There was a moment when he wasn't sure if he was going to record it because it name checked one of his own songs. But since it was so different, he went ahead and recorded it.
McGraw also recalled one of the most embarrassing moments of his career. It was at a GRAMMY Cares event one year when Bruce Springsteen asked McGraw and Hill to do "Tougher Than The Rest" together to honor him. They were all on stage, and Springsteen asked him to sing the second verse, but McGraw couldn't find the words. He was so embarrassed, but was thankfully able to go back and fix his part of the honor performance later so no one ever really knew about it.
While McGraw and Hill are massive stars, especially when seen out in public together. He revealed that they loved to go on road trips together to see their daughter in California during the pandemic. They drove at least 4 times out there and would just wear their masks whenever they went into gas stations so no one recognized them. Their go-to snack on the road was always the gas station taquitos.