During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show to promote new single "Off Road," Brad Paisley reflected on some of the less glamorous hometown gigs he played en route to becoming a country music superstar.
"When I was growing up, I did a lot of concerts in my hometown," the country star told Clarkson. "I was from a hometown of about 1,200 people and so I was booked solid. I was the teenager that they needed to sing at anything from Rotary Club luncheons to Lions Club meetings to mother-daughter banquets, anything. I was the entertainment."
And he meant "anything," based on a memory of a particularly awkward gig.
"I got booked to sing for toddlers at the library one afternoon and I don't recommend that for anybody," he recalled. "You realize quickly that there isn't any... unless you're like Raffi or one of those people that really cater to that, there's nothing in your arsenal that will work. That is the test of all tests on a performer. I think I got booed off the stage by, like, five-year-olds."
All of these years later, the Glen Dale, West Virginia native seems like such a natural, whether he's performing on the Grand Ole Opry stage, cracking jokes with a talk show host or co-hosting an awards show with Clarkson's fellow American Idol winner, Carrie Underwood. Nowadays, he'd turn something like "Ticks" into a pre-school favorite without any sign of self-doubt.
Other recent TV appearances for Paisley include a co-hosting gig, alongside fellow Nashville star Blake Shelton, on NBC's Valentine's Day night broadcast of The Grand Ole Opry: 95 Years of Country Music.
Clarkson's show has become an outlet for her to cover past and current Billboard hits, kellyoke style, by the likes of Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson and Lady A.
The Feb. 10 episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show also featured Bling Empire's Christine Chiu.
Now Watch: Brad and Kimberly Williams-Paisley Open a Free Grocery Store for People in Need
