Tim McGraw hopes to release new album by end of 2015
Tim McGraw is hard at work on new music and aside from a recent break to attend the TIME 100 gala and a couple of one-off gigs, it's back to the studio for the country star.
"We started working on it [new album] a couple of weeks ago, so we're right in the thick of it now...Over the next couple of weeks I will working in the studio a lot, putting a lot of touches on the record," McGraw told CBS News.
The upcoming set will follow 2014's "Sundown Heaven Town," McGraw's 13th studio album.
"I'm really excited about it. There's an incredible bunch of songs on this record and we had a lot of fun in the studio playing it. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all shakes out myself," he said.
McGraw, who came on the scene with his 1993 self-titled debut, says he tries to grow with each new album.
"I think music is always a progression -- it kind of shows where you've gone, where you're at and where you're going," said the 47-year-old country singer, who spoke with CBS News on behalf of the American Diabetes Association. "And that's what I try to do with my music. Art reflects life, life reflects art -- you know the old saying. And that's certainly true when you're making music, just about as much as anything. Music sort of puts you in a place in time. All I try to do is get better in the studio and get better as an artist, get better as a communicator and try to please myself as much as anything."
At this point in his career, McGraw says he wants to make music that matters and means something to him.
"I think as an artist you have to go into the studio and try to reach the goals," he said. "I think if you start chasing radio, if you start chasing what your fans want to hear -- I think if you start chasing what you think is the end thing -- it's OK to include some of that stuff, but if you start chasing that as a home-base I think you're in trouble as an artist."
Meanwhile, McGraw has a big summer ahead of him. Aside from laying down new tracks, he's readying his Shotgun Rider tour, which kicks off in June and stretches into October.
"For me, that's the best part of being in this business -- is to get out in front of people on tour and play music," he said. "We'll play some songs that we haven't played in a while, some older songs that people haven't heard and we'll certainly play the hits that people have been hearing over the last couple of years...You never know with us, we may throw a good cover song in there that we really love along the way.
He plans to road-test a couple of the new tracks in concert, but before that, McGraw will be seen in the upcoming Disney film, "Tomorrowland," which stars George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Kathryn Hahn, Britt Robertson and Judy Greer.
The sci-fi adventure flick, due out May 22, follows a curious teen and a former boy-genius inventor who embark on a mission to unearth the secrets of a place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective memory.
"I play a father who's also a rocket scientist, who's been laid off by NASA and trying to figure out what to do with his life and his daughter is a very curious girl who got caught up in some pretty crazy things and gets propelled into the future and back into the present again and into the past again. It's a really interesting film. I read the script and I've seen the trailer and I still think it's crazy and wonderful. And I can't wait to see the film," said McGraw.
And as for that new studio album, McGraw says he hopes to have it out by the end of 2015.
"That would be the goal. I would love to get some music out to my fans. Who knows though? You gotta sort of let the music develop as you go along," he said.
