TMU Exclusive Interview with Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are two of the biggest superstars in music! Brooks has sold more albums than anyone and he just surpassed his tie with The Beatles for six Diamond Awards. He now has seven as of last night’s (Sept 23rd) opening night show in Fresno, CA when Yearwood made the announcement. Yearwood has one of the greatest voices in any genre. Both were kind enough to speak with The Music Universe before the opening of four shows in Fresno on Friday (Sept 23rd) as they near the start of year three on their world tour. We discussed upcoming projects, social media and more.

“I apologize ahead for looking like hammered dookie, but man, we were in the studio until about 3:30 this morning,” Brooks remarks to the small crowd of press gathered inside the Save Mart Center before the first show. “We got some sleep on the plane out here and just so glad to be here. So glad to be on the West Coast.”

Brooks and Yearwood chatted with reporters for about 20 minutes (see the full press conference below) before branching off for one one one interviews with each one individually (see each one below). When I caught up with Brooks, I asked him about the new Christmas duets record he and Yearwood have scheduled.

“The Christmas album [will] probably out about the same day the box set does,” he tells me exclusively. “I think we’ll probably kinda do everything together. Probably come out in November at some point. I don’t know if they’ve released dates yet, and then the fall record, I’m hoping makes it out about the same point. We’re still working on it, like I said, we were in there until pretty early today working on it.”

The box set he’s referring to is The Ultimate Collection, a new ten disc collection that will be released through Target on November 11th. The project will include previously released material arranged as themes as well as a Target exclusive edition of his new, still untitled album, before it’s released anywhere else.

“The Christmas album [will] probably out about the same day the box set does.”

I also asked Brooks how excited he is to share behind the scenes of the new album through his Facebook Live series, Inside Studio G.

“I like it because everything is not in five second doses, boom boom boom, kinda thing,” he explains. “You get to actually explain stuff. You get to sit down with ’em because we promised ’em we were gonna take ’em on this ride of how a record’s made, how it’s mixed, finished and even how it’s even manufactured. And we’re kinda in the mixing and mastering kinda stage right now, towards the end. And it’s pretty cool. It’s longer than a five second little spurt, and you actually get to talk and they talk back to you which is what I really like a lot. And that’s because the great people of Facebook — that kinda set this program up where live truly is live — and you can respond to people right there because they’re reading the comments as they go, and so you get to talk to them. That’s my favorite thing. The thing I don’t like about social media is it’s all about front — you push it out. But what I love about this Facebook Live thing, is you get it back.”

This year marks 25 years since Yearwood released her debut album. She says she’s working on a couple of projects that will hopefully be released soon.

“I’ve always wanted to do a live record. I’ve got a lot of songs assembled so I’m hoping to get in the studio and get that really just mixed together. I would really like to get in and get that out before this tour’s over. And I’m also listening to new songs, so I’m gearing up. It’s been too long and I’m ready to make a new record. So hopefully I’ll have something out by next year.”

I inquired if she would be following in Brooks’ footsteps with a box set.

“I don’t know! He’s the box set guy. I’ve never done one. I would love to do one. Maybe one of these days,” she states. “Most of my records I made with MCA Records, and so maybe I should sit down with them and see if they want to do something.”

Yearwood also discussed her new fragrance that she created with Inter Parfums USA, LLC that’s available exclusively through Walmart.

“I’ve been working on it for over a year now,” she explains. “I’m very picky about fragrance, and with everything I Have in my hand, i’m in the middle of it. I worked on it for a long time and they brought in the things that I like, things that smell good to me, and they started with that and they’ve given me little bottles to take home and I wear ’em for months and I go I like this, I don’t like this, I like this. And so finally after all that time from fragrance to packaging to everything, I’m really happy with it, so it’s just come out and I wear it.”

Yearwood teamed up with two of Firmenich’s finest perfumers: Ilias Ermenidis and Pierre Negrin to create a stunning yet affordable signature fragrance. Ermenidis and Negrin are both renown for creating award winning signature fragrances for Vera Wang, Tom Ford and Givenchy. They continued this tradition of excellence with the creation of Trisha Yearwood eau de parfum and body mist.

The fragrance is a celebration of modern femininity that opens with an inviting floral bouquet of honeysuckle, white peach and lily of the valley. It continues with heart notes of jasmine and sweet Tiare flower which delight the senses while a delicate and sophisticated blend of woods, musk, amber and vanilla notes leave a soothing trail that is irresistible.

“I’m in pre-production for a new season right now so it’s always kinda crazy.”

Besides the tour, each weekend Yearwood can be seen on the Food Network as the host of her Emmy Award winning, Trisha’s Southern Kitchen, which is about to begin its eighth season.

“It’s been a happy accident. I never thought I’d be in this world, but it came out something I really love to do which is cook,” she states before Brooks sneaks a nice little smooch mid-interview.

“He just flustered me,” she says surprisingly.

She continues, “It’s been really fun and we’ve got a cooking show now, so when I’m not singing, I’m usually developing recipes. I’m in pre-production for a new season right now so it’s always kinda crazy.”

Brooks and Yearwood perform three more shows at the Save Mart Center in Fresno — two on Saturday and one on Sunday before heading to Orlando and Charleston. More dates are expected to be announced.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn