Whatever your party affiliation, Brad Paisley is ready to either console you or help you celebrate on Election Day, November 4th, when he releases his new album, Play! Packed with 16 songs — including the smash single, “Start a Band,” Brad’s duet with Keith Urban — the album also features vocal and instrumental collaborations with B.B. King, Steve Wariner, and the late Buck Owens, as well as a bonus track with Andy Griffith. But the remainder of the album puts the spotlight not on Brad’s vocals, but on his guitar — and his songwriting — on a diverse, mostly-instrumental collection that gives us what we’ve always loved about Brad: incredible picking, inventive songs, and a way with a song that, even without words, shares the heart and fun that’s always been part and parcel with Brad’s music. In fact, two of the songs were inspired by his family, including “Kim,” for his wife — and newly expectant mom — Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and “Huckleberry Jam,” for his boy, Huck. Brad says “a lot of the songs were born out of titles,” while others began from a musical concept, like Brad’s very hip take on “a surf tune” or the jazzy “Les Is More,” named in honor of guitar great, Les Paul.  (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

• Among other album guests, look for a return of Brad’s buddy and frequent comic partner, Little Jimmy Dickens, who’s up to his usual shenanigans! This weekend, Brad will be performing on the Grand Ole Opry as part of the Opry’s salute to Little Jimmy’s 60th anniversary on the show. Don’t miss this special occasion — you can watch the evening on GAC’s Opry Live this Saturday (9pm, ET)!
• But that’s not the only place you’ll be able to see Brad in the next few days! Watch for him on ABC’s Good Morning America and The View on November 4th, and the following day on the syndicated Access Hollywood and CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman!

  Brad Paisley kept things simple and creative when he was working on his new album, Play. (:35)
“A lot of these songs were born out of titles, like ‘Kim’ was a title I wanted to write. ‘Huckleberry Jam’ was a title I wanted to write. Others exist because I wanted to write a surf tune, I wanted to write a…I wanted somethin’ bluegrassy, you know, and then I know I wanted to do a jazz thing so we wrote that, and called it ‘Les is More,’ ’cause to me, it sounded a little bit like Les. You’re looking at the depth of thought we put into it. That’s it. Right there. Right on the surface. Nothin’ deeper than this. So, you know, ‘Ahh, that sounds like that,’ ‘Well, let’s call it that,’ ‘How ’bout this title, “Huckleberry Jam,”‘ ‘Cool, what would that sound like,’ ‘What about this (humming tune),’ ‘All right’ (laughs).”