Billy Ray Cyrus
(Q)-Billy Ray Cyrus(BRC) talks of his current attitude and he looks at what he believes might possibly to be his future as a recording artist.
(BRC) I’m really more focused then I’ve ever been in my career. The new album is a very special album. It’s exciting. I’m going to do a world tour and then a TV series. We’ve got some great songs and some special guest on this upcoming album. It’s titled “Southern Rain”. We’ve got a song called, “We The People” and it features Waylon Jennings, John Anderson and Montgomery Gentry and Danni Leigh and Yankee Grey. That song is a real working people’s anthem. It’s a dandy. I think that with this album, it will really speak for everybody, not only country fans, but all human beings. This album is really special to me. It’s got a lot of powerful, sincere songs on it. There’s just a bunch of powerful songs on there. I do love this album, it’s every bit of my roots and every bit of my influences combined on one CD. There’s nothing focused, there are no power plays by anyone. It just all came together.
(Q)-So what’s different about that? Well, after the first album, everything got a little jumbled up and each record would become a little more jumble then the previous one. This album is a snapshot of here my music and my life is at this time. There’s nothing that’s not believable on this one. (Q)-What about the “Achy Breaky” dance and that giant hit single? Do you still want to include that as part of your stage show? What’s your take on all of that now looking back years after the hit?
(BRC)-I never did really dance to “Achy Breaky”. While I love playing the song, I am not a dancer.That’s one of the biggest misconceptions about me. Now, while I’m here to make everybody happy, I’m not a dancer. My one problem is that I’m not a dancer. What I call the “Achy Breaky” moves, is probably something that I borrowed off of Cassias Clay (Muhammad Ali). ‘m more of a boxer and not a dancer. Live in concert, I’m here to make everybody happy, but I am not a dancer. I never was a dancer. I always thought that calling me a dancer was one of the oddest things. I don’t dance, I just do what I do. If somebody interprets me and what I do as the moves of a dancer, then that’s their interpretation. But, I’m not a dancer. Now I want to in 2001, incorporate all that I’ve done in my career into a new show. I’m going to take it on a world tour. I want to bring it out for 2001. Now I have to have somebody to teach me to dance, because I’m not a dancer.
(Q)-Where does BRC see himself at this current time prior to the release of his upcoming album? Is success everything he once thought it would be prior to his success?
(BRC)-You know what? I can’t complain. I’m having a blast, I’m doing what I want to do and you know, I can’t complain. I’ve got a great bunch of fans around the world and I feel like my record company now has a plan that corresponds to the vision I have. My goal has always been to make music and to touch people’s lives all around the world. And I think that’s what I’m doing and I couldn’t be happier.