Tim McGraw
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for ABA

Celebrate Tim McGraw Turning 57 With A Throwback To The Singer's First Single

Tim McGraw is turning 57 years old this year, and to celebrate the singer's birthday, we're taking a look at one of his early singles. McGraw debuted on the scene with "What Room Was the Holiday In."

Videos by Wide Open Country

Given all of the singer's successes over the years, you may not remember the tune. It certainly didn't light up the charts when McGraw dropped it. Unfortunately for the singer, it would be several more songs before McGraw found a hit. However, it's interesting to see how far McGraw has come.

The singer lacked the same confidence and swagger that defined his later career. Likewise, the song lacked the catchiness needed to be a hit.

 

Tim McGraw Reflects On Early Career

During a recent Apple Music interview, McGraw said he would deceive music executives. "You'll play a mix for somebody, like an executive, and they'll go, 'Y'know, this really sounds great, but I think if you tweaked it right here and you tweaked it right there, and you did a few little tweaks on the mix, it'd be really good," McGraw said.

He continued, "And I'd go, 'OK.' So I'd go away. Couple days later I'd come back with the same mix, and say, 'We tweaked it, took your suggestions.' And I'll play it, and they'd all go, 'Hot damn. That's exactly what it needed. Now it sounds great.'"

Speaking with CMT, McGraw said his career has been a great ride he wouldn't trade for anything else.

He said, "Well, it's been a great ride. I think that for me, what cut my teeth and made me a better artist and made me a better singer and made me a better performer were those years I spent on the road in a van, pulling the trailer. We'd show up at a gig and we'd play Monday through Sunday, seven nights a week most of the time. Sometimes we'd play two or three weeks at a place. It would be great to go to a place you'd never been before. On a Monday night, you set up and you're playing and there are 30 or 40 people there. Then word would get out about our band being there. By the weekend, it would just be jampacked and it would stay that way for the next two weeks that we were there. It was kind of cool to build a following and sort of build a reputation as sort of a bar band."