#852: Tim McGraw — Starting Late with a $20 Guitar, Selling 100M+ Records, and 30+ Years of Creative Longevity

**Tim Ferriss** (0:00)
Hello, boys and girls, ladies and germs. This is Tim Ferris. Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferris Show, where it's my job to deconstruct world-class performers from all different disciplines to tease out what you can use, what you can apply in your own lives. And we have a very tactical, very detail-rich interview ahead. And my guest is Tim McGraw. To say Tim McGraw is a Grammy Award-winning singer is an absurd understatement. He's had 49 No. 1 singles and 19 No. 1 albums, making him one of the most played country artists of all time. But calling him a country artist is also too small of a category. He's been named Nielsen BDS Radio's most played artist of the decade for all music genres and also had the most played song of the decade for all music genres. He's written four New York Times bestselling books. And you've also seen him in Friday Night Lights, The Blind Side, and Yellowstone, not to mention his three-time Emmy nominated 1883 in which he stars alongside his wife, Faith Hill and Sam Elliott. You can find tickets for his upcoming Pawn Shop Guitar Tour at timmgraw.com. That's Tim TIM. McGraw, mcgraw.com.
Check it out. I will certainly be aiming to attend. And without further ado, please enjoy a very, very wide ranging, very, very detailed, very fun conversation with the one and only Tim McGraw.

**Tim McGraw** (1:26)
Optimal minimal.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:28)
At this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:33)
Can I answer your personal question?

**Tim Ferriss** (1:51)
Tim, it's so nice to finally meet in person.

**Tim McGraw** (1:53)
You as well, Tim.

**Tim Ferriss** (1:54)
Really fantastic.

**Tim McGraw** (1:55)
Absolutely. Big fan.

**Tim Ferriss** (1:57)
Likewise. I have not been to Nashville in so long.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:02)
It's just lovely around here.

**Tim McGraw** (2:03)
It's incredible and it changes every day. I mean, I get lost. Anytime I come downtown, I get lost because everything looks so different.

**Tim Ferriss** (2:11)
Franklin looks like it's just had facelift after facelift after facelift.

**Tim McGraw** (2:15)
I know. And when I first moved here in 89, all of that Cool Springs, all that stuff was still all countryside. And I remember land being not very expensive out there. And I didn't have two nickels to rub it around. I'm thinking, man, if I could just buy some land out here and build me a little cabin, find me a club gig. You know, it really would be great. And cut to two years later and it's just, everything's through the roof. I mean, it's just going crazy. And then, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down at all.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:46)
You just offered me the perfect segue because-

**Tim McGraw** (2:49)
Well, that's what I'm here for.

**Tim Ferriss** (2:51)
Thank you. You know, I appreciate this tango that we're getting started here. I was looking back, you were kind enough to answer some questions for Tribe of Mentors.

**Tim McGraw** (3:01)
Yeah, your book.

**Tim Ferriss** (3:02)
My last book.
And I was going back to reread it, and I looked at your bio, and at the time, it read, Tim McGraw sold more than 50 million records, dot, dot, dot, and all of these amazing accolades. And then I looked at the more recent, and it's more than 106 million records worldwide. Your longevity is mind-boggling on a number of different levels. It's just-

**Tim McGraw** (3:26)
Yeah, me too. Mind-boggling to me too. People are still putting up with me.

**Tim Ferriss** (3:30)
And I'm wondering, how have you thought about, or how has your creative process changed over the years? What has remained the same? What has changed? Because there's so many ingredients that you have to get right for you to not just last, but succeed over the decades that you have.

**Tim McGraw** (3:54)
Well, one thing that doesn't change is great songs. That's the first check, should be the first check on any artist's list. I mean, I write, I write for every project, and I've been lucky enough to have some success with some of the things I write. But for me, the song always has to win. Wherever the song comes from, that's what it's going to be. And I listen to songs constantly. I'm constantly writing, constantly listening. I'm hard on my own songs. That's probably why I haven't cut as many. But my process is pretty much the same. I think material wise, I look for different kinds of music than I used to. I still like fun songs. And if I find the right fun song, I'll do it. But it's tougher at a certain age to sing about, Daisy Dukes and tailgates all the time. You know, it just doesn't quite ring true to me. But you know, every now and then something comes along that's funny and you just do it because you're an artist and you're telling a story and you do it.