Keith Urban draws inspiration from a lot of places, including up-and-coming singers. The Grand Ole Opry member reveals that he is a big, big fan of new talent, of all genres, who become his biggest source of inspiration.
“Getting out in the sun, going for a walk. New music,” Urban shares during a recent media event, when asked what inspires him and his music. “Discovering new artists, discovering new music. I’m far more interested in new artists and new music, and get more inspiration from new music, new songwriting approaches, new recording sounds, just new ways of doing things. Going to a concert and seeing a different way to play live, and a different way to put things together. It’s never-ending. It’s constant. Even if it circles right back around to something that was 30 years ago is fresh again. It’s really exciting to me.”
Urban is especially eager about new music, since he is getting ready to kick off his High and Alive World Tour on May 22, marking his first real tour since his 2022 The Speed of Now World Tour. The 57-year-old is counting down the days until his tour begins.
“I’m just always ready to go,” Urban says. “We haven’t toured. This will be three years since we’ve done a full, proper tour. That’s long for me. Typically, it’s every couple of years. So it’s probably why I’m extra jonesing to get out there and get going, and particularly having these songs. It was so hard during COVID to put out an album, and not be able to tour. I realized that it’s not just for me as an artist. It’s not just playing those songs live in front of an audience and the experience of that that I missed.
“When I make an album, that’s one version of those songs,” he continues. “It’s just one version. Yes, it’s the recorded version, but it’s just one version. I love getting out on stage and continuing to discover and expand and excavate more of what these song’s potential is. And it happens live. Songs get a little longer, or they have little moments. They evolve over the course of touring. I love that I get to give the songs more dimension live.”
Urban has a Top 40 hit with “Straight Line,” his latest single from HIGH.
“It’s a song that is really about recognizing that life can sometimes just become monotonous and routine,” Urban explains. “For me too, for so many people. It can happen slowly. You’re doing your job, you’re showing up Monday to Friday or Monday to Saturday, whatever it is, day in, day out. It’s like rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. You’re doing it and you’re being responsible. But slowly but surely, you’re like, ‘My life is not so great. It used to be really fun. What the hell happened?’
“Because it’s life,” he continues. “You got to work. You’ve got to pay the bills, you’ve got to take care of things, but it can start to lack color and I wanted a song that was like an alarm clock going off to kind of wake up all of us and reclaim our life really. That’s what Straight Line’s about.”
Find all of Urban’s music and upcoming shows at KeithUrban.com.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the CMA