''Mud on the Tires'' is the third studio album by American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
artist
Brad Paisley
Bradley Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting with his 1999 debut album ''Who Needs Pictures'', he has released eleven studio albums and a Christmas compilation on the Arista Nashvil ...
. Released on July 22, 2003, through
Arista Nashville
Arista Nashville is an American record label that serves as a wholly owned division of Sony Music, operated under the Sony Music Nashville division. Founded in 1989, the label specializes in country music artists, including Alan Jackson, Brooks ...
, it produced four hit singles on the ''
Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now
Hot Country Songs) charts: the Top Five hits "Celebrity", "Little Moments" and "Whiskey Lullaby", as well as the Number One title track. The album itself has been certified 2× Platinum by the
RIAA, while "Whiskey Lullaby" and the title-track have been certified as gold singles.
Content
The album produced four singles for Paisley. First was "Celebrity", which peaked at number 3 on the country charts. Following it were the number 2 "Little Moments", and then the number 3 "Whiskey Lullaby" in 2004. This latter song, a duet with
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...
, was her first Top 40 country hit since her guest vocal on
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted m ...
' Number One hit "
Buy Me a Rose
"Buy Me a Rose" is a song written by Jim Funk and Erik Hickenlooper, and recorded by American country music artist Kenny Rogers. It was released in October 1999 as the third single from his album ''She Rides Wild Horses''. Upon reaching Number One ...
" in 2000. "Whiskey Lullaby" was later covered by
Jon Randall
Jon Randall Stewart (born February 17, 1969) is an American producer, songwriter, and musician.
His career began as a guitarist for Emmylou Harris' Nash Ramblers with whom he won his first Grammy for their ''Live at the Ryman'' album in 1992. B ...
, who co-wrote it, on his 2005 album ''Walking Among the Living''. The title track was the fourth and final release from this album. In February 2005, this song became Paisley's fourth Number One hit.
"Is It Raining at Your House" is a cover of a song originally recorded by
Vern Gosdin
Vernon Gosdin (August 5, 1934 – April 28, 2009) was an American country music singer. He had 19 top-10 solo hits on the country music charts from 1977 through 1990. Three of these hits went to Number One: " I Can Tell By the Way You Dance (You ...
on his 1988 album ''
Chiseled in Stone
"Chiseled in Stone" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Vern Gosdin. It was released in August 1988 as the third single and title track from the album '' Chiseled in Stone''. The song reached #6 on the '' Billboard ...
''. Gosdin's rendition was a number 10 country hit that year. "Spaghetti Western Swing" is a narrative skit featuring
Redd Volkaert
Redd Volkaert (born 1958) originally from Canada, is widely regarded as one of the greatest guitar players in the modern era and is "among the country’s top Telecaster guitar slingers." particularly in the genres of Western Swing and Honky Tonk. ...
. The final track is a
hidden track called "Kung Pao", another skit featuring
Bill Anderson,
George Jones
George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song " He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...
and
"Little" Jimmy Dickens.
"The Cigar Song" is based on an
urban legend
An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...
about a man who purchases expensive
cigars and takes out insurance on them, then smokes them and asks for the insurance money after claiming that they were lost in a "series of small fires".
Track listing
Personnel
Musicians
* Brad Paisley – lead vocals, acoustic guitar (1-4, 6-11, 13, 15, 16), electric guitars (1-8, 10-16), tic-tac bass (1-5, 7), 12-string guitar (2),
mandolin (2, 6, 10), Go-bro (6),
baritone guitar (9), 6-string bass guitar (11)
*
Bernie Herms
Bernhard "Bernie" Herms (born March 26, 1972) is a Canadian composer, songwriter, and music producer in Nashville, Tennessee. He has received and been nominated for Grammy Awards, GMA Dove Awards, and GMA Canada Covenant Awards, due to his song ...
– acoustic piano (3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 13-16),
Hammond B3 organ (6)
*
Gordon Mote – Hammond B3 organ (4, 11)
* Jim "Moose" Brown – Hammond B3 organ (7)
* Gary Hooker – electric guitar (14), tic-tac bass (14)
*
Redd Volkaert
Redd Volkaert (born 1958) originally from Canada, is widely regarded as one of the greatest guitar players in the modern era and is "among the country’s top Telecaster guitar slingers." particularly in the genres of Western Swing and Honky Tonk. ...
– electric guitar (15)
*
Ron Block
Ronald Franklin Block (born July 30, 1964) is an American banjo player, guitarist, and singer-songwriter, best known as a member of the bluegrass band Alison Krauss & Union Station. He has won 14 Grammy Awards, 6 International Bluegrass Music A ...
–
banjo (1, 7, 10)
* Randle Currie –
steel guitar (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13-16), pedabro (3)
*
Jerry Douglas
Gerald Calvin "Jerry" Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer.
Career
In addition to his fourteen solo recordings, Douglas has played on more than 1,600 albums. As a sideman, he h ...
–
dobro (9, 10)
* Kevin Grantt – bass guitar (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16),
upright bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...
(3, 9, 13),
fretless bass A fretless bass is a bass guitar whose neck does not have any frets. While the instrument is played in all styles of music, it is most common in pop, rock, and jazz. It first saw widespread use during the 1970s, although some players used them befo ...
(6), tic-tac bass (8)
* Ben Sesar – drums (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13-16)
* Randy Hardison – drums (7)
*
Eric Darken – percussion (1-11, 13-16), handclaps (8)
*
Frank Rogers – handclaps (8)
*
Brian David Willis – handclaps (8)
* Justin Williamson –
fiddle (1-5, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16)
*
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...
–
viola
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*Violin family ...
(9), lead and harmony vocals (9)
* Don Sampson – whistling (3)
* Wes Hightower – backing vocals (1-8, 10, 11, 14)
*
Dan Aykroyd – backing vocals (5)
*
Jim Belushi
James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Jim on the sitcom ''According to Jim'' (2001–2009). His other television roles include ''Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), '' Total Security'' ...
– backing vocals (5)
*
Vince Gill
Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...
– backing vocals (8)
* Kenny Lewis – backing vocals (9), bass guitar (10)
*
Dan Tyminski
Daniel John Tyminski (born June 20, 1967) is an American bluegrass composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist. He is a member of Alison Krauss's band Union Station, and has released three solo albums, ''Carry Me Across the Mountain'' (2000), on ...
– backing vocals (9)
Fingersnaps on "Ain't Nothin' Like"
* Darrell Hayes, Morgane Hayes, Jessica Rogers, Don Sampson and Wynn Varble
Children's Chorus on "Ain't Nothin' Like"
* Charles NcCallie, Manny Rogers, Emma Sampson, Maddie Sampson and Georgia Claire Varble
Chorus on "Farther Along"
* Neal Cappellino, Vince Gill, Wes Hightower, Valerie Pringle, Frank Rogers, Steve Short and Brian David Willis
Production
* Frank Rogers – producer, digital editing
* Richard Barrow – recording, digital editing
* Brian David Willis – recording, digital editing
* Justin Niebank – mixing
* Neal Cappellino – additional recording, digital editing
*
Jason Lehning – additional recording
*
Kendal Marcy – additional recording
* Steve Short – recording assistant, mix assistant
* Drew Bollman – mix assistant
* Adam Hatley – digital editing
* Ronnie Thomas – additional digital editing
* Hank Williams – mastering
* C. A. Dreyer – production assistant
* Astrid Hebrold May – art direction, design
* Russ Harrington – photography
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
2003 albums
Albums produced by Frank Rogers (record producer)
Arista Records albums
Brad Paisley albums