“This band will never quit," he asserts. “We’ve worked too hard and we’ve built too big of a fan base and we just love it too much and love each other too much to ever stop. It’s just after 9 years you want to try something different.”
His new venture actually started in a conversation with Lady A's original producer, Paul Worley.
“We were getting a little nostalgic and I said, ‘Hey man, you know I did write this really cool song called 'The Driver' you know that I may go in and demo and he goes, ‘Why don't you come to my studio and let's just do it. I won't charge you anything, you pay for the band, and if it comes out like crap, no one has to hear it,’” he recalls. “And I was like ‘Alright! Why not?’ I've got nothing to lose and once it kinda came out like it was something I was like, ‘Oh wow, I've got to really think about how to do this.’ You know, is it the start of the next Lady Antebellum record or is it a solo thing or do I pitch it to other artists?”
Once his bandmates Hillary Scott and Dave Hayward started talking about taking a break after their latest tour, Charles said he knew the timing was right.
“I think the fans will understand why I had to do it. The timing of it, it was all these signs that said this is the time to do it. Of course I’ve probably had this in the back of my mind maybe for the past three or four years, the whole time knowing if I ever did this… this would just be a side project for fun.”
Charles performs his single “The Driver” with Dierks Bentley and Eric Paslay this evening on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. His solo tour kicks off November 28 in Cleveland, Ohio, with his CD set for release sometime in the next few months.
A Good Samaritan dropped the labrador/terrier mix and his two litter mates at Miranda’s Redemption Ranch last July, after they were abandoned in rural Oklahoma. After making the trek to Music City, all three dogs now have new homes. Charlie the Opry pup is set to make his official debut on the world’s longest-running radio show with the Opry Goes Pink for breast cancer awareness on October 27.
Meanwhile during the month of October, fans who enter the code “PAWS” when buying Opry tickets will donate part of their cost to MuttNation. The Opry is also selling special canine-themed items in its gift shops to raise money for Miranda’s favorite cause.
Right now, promoters are busy adding dates to Strait’s upcoming stint at the Las Vegas Arena, after the initial six-show series sold old. Kacey Musgraves will open the concerts that kick off in April of next year. There's no word yet on when the new dates will be announced.
He says, "I hope they look at this album and go, 'Same ol’, same ol'. He’s sticking to his guns.'"
Though he's not going to work to keep up with current trends at country radio, Toby promised himself he would never say anything bad about the music coming from the new generation of country artists.
"I heard the guys whining, saying that the youth like, twenty years ago when I was coming in, there were people that were saying my generation wasn’t country enough, and I was like, 'Man I never want to be that guy.' So, I don’t care what the kids are doing."
Toby co-wrote nine of the 10 songs on 35 MPH Town, including the new single, "Beautiful Stranger." The album is out now.