Garth Believes A Great Live Record Puts You In The Front Row

When Garth Brooks launches the Blame It All On My Roots Tour with back-to-back shows Aug. 21-22 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, he won't just be performing.

He'll also be recording.

The tour will serve as the foundation for Brooks' new live album. He hopes the project will capture what makes a concert undeniably different from a recording studio.

"I LOVE music!" Brooks says. "All kinds. There are so many great artists, so many great songs, so many great recordings. With all of that said, there is something about LIVE music that gives me chills. The rawness of it, the 'capturing' of that magic moment, the crowd…it's all part of what makes live recordings stick out in our minds."

Thirty years ago,Brooks' trailblazing arena tour produced Double Live, now certified25 million by the RIAA and the top-selling live album in recorded music history. This time, he's setting out to capture a new chapter.

Brooks says recording a live album is a different challenge from making a record in a studio’s controlled environment. Capturing that in-the-moment experience, he says, is complicated.

"The recording process of live is the hardest part," Brooks says. "Everything from crowd capture, clarity, to getting the entire picture on one recording is no easy feat."

The audience, their cheers and voices singing along, is what transforms a performance into a live album – and what sets it apart.

"What I love about our live records is Garth is not the focus as much as the crowd is,"he says. "Those voices are the difference between a studio record and a song coming to life."

He hopes the new live record will do more than let fans hear a concert.

"A live record, done right, becomes virtual reality," Brooks says. "A great live recording will yank you out of your seat and sit you down right in the front row of your favorite concert."

Brooks believes this project will finally answer a question he's been asked throughout his career.

"All my career, in every interview, I have always tried to explain what I hear and feel in alive performance," he says. "This live record is finally going to answer that question."