KEITH URBAN: "The Speed of Now"

Published Nov 8, 2022, 8:00 AM

Want to hear something delightful? Join Keith Urban and me on today's episode of LOVE SOMEONE and you'll get to hear his laugh! It will absolutely light up your day!!!

Keith and I catch up as his North American leg of 'The Speed of Now Tour" comes to an end and he prepares to take it to Australia. He shares some insights, some wisdom, and more than a few laughs with us! I loved our conversation and I know you will too! ~ Delilah

November is upon us, My friends. It's time for fall feasting, frall of king and fallen leaves. Turkeys are filling the big open freezers at the grocery store, and I've been eyeing them while trying to figure out whether or not I have enough room in my home freezer to store that big old bird until Thanksgiving Day. It's little problems such as these that remind me how truly truly blessed I am. Will you be hosting friends and families for dinner this year? What kinds of side dishes will you be serving? All the old favorites like cornbread, dressing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, and the like? Or are you starting to lean more towards lighter fair roasted brussels sprout spinach salad. Who I love spin it salad with apples and cranberries, m M. I spent a few years in Boston when I was a single mom of one. We were invited to many, many homes that shared the tradition of lasagna. They had lasagna on the holiday table. Now, I don't do Christmas or Thanksgiving without a big old pan or two or three of lasagna. No, what else we can't do without music, always music. Today's guest on Love Someone with Delilah has certainly done his part to make our music menu a sampling of the old, familiar, comfort tunes and some nouvelle cuisine. Keith Urban has spent the better part of his life harnessing a deep seated passion for music. It's no wonder he's one of the most successful, most well respected artists in the world. He's won four Grammy Awards, thirteen c M as, fifteen a c M S three a M A S two People's Choice Awards, and celebrated nine consecutive gold, platinum or multi platinum albums. This year, he's released some new music, including the track wild Hearts and his current single brown Eyes Baby. They come just after his duet with Pink One Too Many from The Speed of Now Part One, which was his fourth in his streak of simultaneous number one album debuts in US, Canada and Australia. Keith has just wrapped up the U S leg of his wildly successful The Speed of Now World Tour, packing the house for more than fifty shows. He's getting ready to take his show back home to Australian audiences, but in between he's taking time to sit down and chat with us. Let me take a sip of my hot tea and share a little holiday love with one of my podcast sponsors, and then we will dive right in. Visitors to my home or my studio are sure to notice one thing right away, my love for tea. One of my favorites is bigelow t s Constant Comment. It's been my go to for years. The aromatic citrus and spice blend is an immediate pick me up first thing in the morning, during the afternoon slump, or when sitting down in front of the microphone to spend time with my listeners. Each evening, Even before I take my first sip, I like to slowly inhale, letting the scent of oranges and sweet spices fill my lungs and tantalize my taste buds. It's a little ritual that helps to put me in the best frame of mind for whatever task lies ahead. I wonder if Ruth Bigelow did something similar when she mixed up the first batch of Constant Comment in her kitchen over seventy five years ago. It wouldn't surprise me. Love tea, Love Citrus and spice and everything nice. Don't forget to add Bigelow's constant comment tea blend to your shopping list. It's been blended by the Bigelow family for three generations, and you'll taste the love they add in every cup. Keith Urban, welcome to love someone with Delilah. So tell me about the speed of Now Part one, your newest album that came out two years ago. That came out two years ago, But you're touring now because two years ago we couldn't Yeah no, thank goodness because I missed it. I missed the connection with the audience. But the other thing I think I was surprised at discovering was realizing that making an album for me is half, it feels like, musically half of what I do. The other half is then bringing that album live out on the road and bringing those songs into context, particularly with other songs. So when I put an album out, that's one version of each of those songs. It's just one version. It's not even necessarily the definitive version. It's just that's the version that's recorded. But you go out live and start bringing those songs to life every night, and they and they unferral even more, you know, and the way audiences sing along with them that changes the feeling and experience of a song. I missed. I missed all of that. I missed being able to put the music in context live. So it's been great to be back out of the road again. And do you do you get so exhausted you had fifty fifty performances recently, Yeah, no, invigorated. And I think it's the well because I work really hard to create a sort of energy in the room that not only is good for the audience, but it's good for me too. I'm doing it for me as well, because I feed off it and then I give it back, and then the audience gives it to me, and the cycle goes all night long, and then it's just it's got a good flow, you know, and when it when it happens, and it's been happening every night on this tour, then it's easy. It's easy to play two or three hours. It's just you just I love going to concerts just for that reason. I don't even go for the music when I go, I go for that energy. It is to me the most delicious high in life to be with other people connecting sharing, singing, clapping, dancing. Um. I have a daughter. She's thirteen now, but when she was younger, she would always beg to go to the shows with me, and then she would proceed to entertain everyone all night long because she would be out in the middle of the aisle dancing and singing at the top of her little lungs, like she so wants to be up on stage with you, you know. And I love that energy. I love it. And then it's it's like this loop that just grows and grows and grows, and before you know it, the tire auditorium is like one in heart and spirit, and I think that's how we're going to save the world. Well, when you think about it's centrifical force, it's just it's you know, it's a gyroscope situation where it's infinite so long as it's given equally back, you know. I mean that's all of us right as people. If we equally give as we receive, and that's everything we can do to give and receive, then it's all this this consistent energy flow and it flows beautifully. It's when people sort of sit and receive and don't give it back. At some point this is going to be been in balance of energy, and the performance stage will be affected. Ah, and you'll be affected because you're like, this guy is fatiguing in this in the third hour and you're like, yeah, because you didn't give him anything, like you've got to. It's everybody is going to be in as a great line in that Jackson Old Jackson Brown song, what's it called the oat out um? People, you've got the power over what we do. You can sit there and wait, or you can pull us through. And it's it's there. Half the show. The audience is half the show. So important. And look at you just talking about it, just talking about that. Your face lights up, your eyes light up, and yeah, you've got a Las Vegas residency. Yes, Zappo's Theater, Planet Hollywood Casino and Resort opens in March. Yeah, so can we get tickets for that? Now? I'll get you tickets, particularly because I got a guy. You got a guy. So do you do you like doing there? Have you done a residency there before? The first time at Zeppos we were at we were over at Caesar's Palace in the Colosseum, which we started at the end of and we got a handful of show has done at the beginning of and then it all just shut down. And so we we kicked that back into gear midway through twenty one, the latter half of twenty one and finished out of residency there and I just had the best time playing in Vegas. So we were already looking to how we could continue playing in Vegas into twenty three and hopefully beyond. So, uh, this will be the first time in Zappost. We're building a whole new show for this and I can't wait to get in and get it going fun. Well, I will be there. I will be the energy. That's that's an energy place right there. Boy, isn't it though, isn't it though? I I I don't because I don't drink and I don't gamble. I when I go there, I literally the only reason I go is for shows, right And it's just delicious. It's like a smorgas board of goodness. You can do the magic shows, you can do concerts. There's always somebody amazing, like yourself or whoever. I don't know how many times I saw Selene when she was there, you know, for years, and and it's always something new, and it's always that energy. I mean I think that I don't even know if they need to plug into the electric grid. I think people could just power all those neon lights if they tried bring it, if they had the technology. Yeah, well, there's a there's a there's a good expression that says, if you ever go to a party and there's no vibe, it's because you didn't bring one. Oh that's good. Yeah. I don't think I've ever gone to a party and not brought a vibe. I always I always bring food and vibes. Yeah, I'll invite you to Alston. Okay, So what do you guys do? What is your traditions, Keith? For your family during the holidays? Um, not really traditions. I mean our tour is going to go all the way through until like right before Christmas. Uh so your tradition is going into a convenience store and buying pepperoni sticks and putting them in the stockings. Gosh, I hope it's better than that. Have you got traditions? Oh my god, have we got traditions? We've and you know I have, I have. I have like dozens of children and grandchildren, so it's a mad house and every year I'm always at your house. Yeah. You know, a lot of my adult children do things at their homes now they have formed their own traditions. But we usually have forty or fifty people on Christmas Morning and Christmas. It sounds really festive and what you would feel and how Christmas and that end of season is. Yeah, it's festive and it's funny and I think probably our biggest tradition and every year I tell the kids I'm never doing this again, is I write little rhyming clues and they have to go all over the farm finding the next clue. And then there's uh, you know, gift at the end of it, a family gift at the end of it, which the gift is never the thing. The thing is the clue. So you know, one minute they're in the chicken coop looking for a clue. In the next minute they have to go up into the attic of the barn, and then they have to you know, it's pretty ridiculous. In my head, I'm picturing that you're somehow incorporating chores in the midstab all that. So you're like, so you go to chicken coop, that's where the clue is. Once you've cleared those all out once you get all the eggs. Yeah, and then head up to the attic and if you can clean that back section out, you'll find a clue. What the hell is wrong with me? Why haven't I done this? I don't know. But you know what, this year, this is the year. This is the year. There before the hunt starts, they each get a shop back. Yeah. See there you go, that's part of it. Yeah, yeah, oh this is brilliant. I love this. Some car washing things and then there's clues in amongst all the cars and yeah, but you have to clean out each car, vacuum out each car before you find the clues to cover the clue. Yeah, I could like to put it inside an apple that has slipped down between this eats. I actually, before I did this interview, as God is my witness, I went out to my car to find something. And I took my youngest son on a road trip just a few days ago, and I don't know how one six year old can make that big of a mess in one, you know, five hour road trip. It's like, how how did you even create this mess? And now I'm like, do I call a detailer or do I just roll up my sleeves and go do it myself. Looks like the end of a big outdoor festival. It does, it does, and it's one kid, one kid. Isn't it fun? Catching up with Keith Urban today. I can't believe we've been so lucky to catch him. Between all these got going on, we have more to talk about that. I want to take a minute to tell you about an exciting new way to keep all your holiday memories safe and share able. This podcast is sponsored by a company solving a family problem. They've got the greatest name, forever forever dot com. I love my family, and I love all my family memories, especially on the photos and all the videos of my children and my grandchildren. But I have the same problem as many people. 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It's easy, but if you need help, call one eight eight eight Forever or choose a Forever ambassador near you. Memories help families stay connected Forever. Get started at Forever dot com and use promo code Love for percent off. So no big family traditions, but big tours. What what does Nicole do when you're on tour? Does she come with or she busy making more and more films and being the fabulous star she is. It's all over the place. It's all over the place. Sometimes where UH engaged in films and touring at this exact same time, and other times if we know everyone like you plan things to go a certain way and then life just throws curved balls and then you have to roll with it. And it really doesn't matter what you do for a living. It just whatever I gets it through the night. Yeah, yeah, well your music gets me through the night. Thank you. Your music is always always fun, It always brings joy. I believe in leaning into the hope, no matter how bleak it all gets, because what's the alternative. Well, the alternative is desperation and depression. You have the choice, and it's just a thought. It's not an actual thing, it's just a thought. I wouldn't you choose to think that there's going to be light somewhere. There's a great line from a movie I love, a book I love, and it says, you humans have such wonderful imaginations. Why do you use them to imagine bad? Why don't you use them to imagine the best? And And that has been my my life. That's you know, I don't care how bad it is. I can imagine a party, I can imagine a Christmas dinner, I can imagine a walk through the woods. I can imagine time with the people that I love. No matter how bad things are, there's always hope, there's always goodness, there's always love. Yeah. I read a really good thing this morning that I'll share with you because I really liked it. It's it's from a guy called Norman Cousins, and he says, since the human body tends to move in the direction of its expectations, it's a great opening line. Plus or minus. It's important to know that attitudes of confidence and determination are no less a part of the treatment program than medical science and technology. So true, if my body is going to move in the direction of my expectations plus and minus, I'm going to try and choose plus always always. Yeah, Wow, that is good. I had to have some surgery a few years ago and I was like, Okay, this is how I'm going to do this. I'm going to imagine all the great things I can do once I get this done with. Because the problem was hindering my enjoyment of life. My quality of life was impacted. Well, here's a here's a really obscure version of that, and it's remember Jack Handy deep thoughts. Oh yeah, deep thoughts. One of the funniest ones of all time was, uh, I think if you get a choice between regular heaven and pie Heaven, you should choose pie Heaven. Because maybe it's a trick, but if it isn't boy apple pie, pumpkin pad pecan? Fine? Yeah, why not? It might be a trick. But if it isn't, hey, hey, so be it. You look like you have never eaten a piece of pie. You're so fit. Oh please, it's a two hours on stage right now in this too. It has me. Yeah, because that's a workout. I've seen you. That's a workout. It's a heck of a workout. Yeah. Yeah, you're You're down, you're prancing, you're kicking, you're spinning, You're amazing. Well, Keith Urban, thank you for being with us, thank you for sharing time with us, Thank you for your music, and I'll see you in Vegas and your residence. All right, bu bye, sweetie, God bless you as you all could easily gather from our conversations. In addition to being a phenomenal musician and a performer, Keith has a generous, tender, sweet, funny heart. He's long supported numerous charities like All for the Haul benefit concerts for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum that's raised over four point two million. He's the first Ambassador of the CMA Foundation, an advisory board member at St. Jude Children's Hospital. I love St. Jude's Children's Hospital. Can I just say I love the fact that any child that walks in their doors and needs help they treat regardless of financial situations. And he's a longtime supporter of the Mr. Holland's Opus Fund and the Grammy Foundation. Keith All new show we were talking about at the Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood. Casino one Resort in Las Vegas launches on March three and will include sixteen performances in March, June, and July. You can find out more about it and purchase tickets when you visit ticketmaster dot com slash Keith Urban Vegas. Ticketmaster dot com slash Keith Urban Vegas. If you are feeling rushed or stressed as the holidays near and your to do list gets longer, remember there is nothing like music, an impromptu kitchen dance or kitchen party to bring a little levity to any situation. The Speed of Now Part one might just be the ticket you need to put a smile on your face. I'll also hold up my end of the bargain and keep dishing out Christmas music all through November and December. Take me along as you run those holiday errands. As you drive over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house you go, and in the evening as you relax, unwind and turn my advice to love someone inward, give yourself some credit for all that you do, and are God bless you, and I will see you next time. I love someone with the Lila

LOVE SOMEONE with Delilah

In a world that can feel divisive and bleak, it's easy to get caught up in feelings of hopelessness, 
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