Alright, I Laughed At This New Clay Walker Tour Name
It can’t be easy being Clay Walker. He’s still too young to be considered a true country legend, and he’s too old to be in the hot current country crowd. Though his catalog has some really great country songs that most any true country fan would recognize like “If I Could Make a Living,” he wasn’t exactly the hit machine of others, and a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis slowed him down at the height of his powers.
Clay Walker also has a reputation for being a prickly dude, and that came to light in a very public way in 2023 when audio of Walker berating his tour bus driver was posted on social media.
“So when I come out of that bathroom, get your ass ready to drive, and drive me smooth motherfu**er, or you’re going to regret it!” was the most memorable portion of Walker’s rant. To read the full transcript of the outburst, CLICK HERE.
Clay Walker responded through his publicist at the time saying, “This happened over a year ago and it came at the end of a long, tough weekend. The bus driver and I reconciled immediately and we are friends and stay in touch.”
Clearly though, it was an embarrassing moment for Clay. It showed a side of him most people don’t see from country stars, and berating one of his workers brought out boos from blue collar workers who help make the music industry run. It’s something Walker was smart to distance from at the time.
But time has a funny way of reconciling past indiscretions in country music, and even making them part of a musician’s persona, and part of country music lore itself. People refer to George Jones as “No Show Jones” like it’s a term of endearment these days, but the people left holding the bag after George’s many cancellations over the years weren’t laughing at the time. It was only after Jones cleaned up his life that it became a laughing matter.
That’s why you can’t help but laugh at the name of Clay Walker’s new tour called the “Drive Me Smooth Tour.” Though some picked up on the reference immediately, many wondered what was up with the quirky name. Well now you know. As time has gone on, the mystique of Clay Walker’s outburst has grown to become a country music catch phrase. Now Walker himself can acknowledge it, and use it for a little self-deprecation.
Seeing Clay Walker live these days is a little hit and miss. His performances are punctuated by proclamations of “saving country” and standing up for “real country.” But when he tries to push his most recent singles, you might hear a drum machine beat emanating from the speakers. Clay Walker might be ready to acknowledge the bus incident, but it’s undetermined if he’s ready to acknowledge country radio has moved on from him.
We might find out for sure on February 28th when he releases his latest single called “Cowboys In Heaven.”
Tickets for the tour are available at claywalker.com.
February 17, 2025 @ 7:11 pm
Perfect.
February 17, 2025 @ 7:18 pm
Credit is due to you for being ahead of the curve. I can vouch for it.
February 17, 2025 @ 7:15 pm
In addition to the other good points that you raise, the renaissance of solid country music over the last few years makes life and commercial relevance even harder for the Clay Walkers of the world.
A pretty good ‘90s hat act was much better than the average new country act of 2012, and therefore a more worthwhile ticket buy; less so in 2025, when a good (and maybe better) new act will be coming through town.
February 17, 2025 @ 7:20 pm
Clay Walker along with Neal McCoy we’re responsible for some of the worst country of the time. Remember the pan flute and growling Then What? It’s just campy cheese-laden drivel. I think they were some of the worst offenders and opened the door for what was to come. As you stated more politely, he’s known to be a dick. Ask the city of Cody about that. Long list of riders…treated everyone as if they were beneath him. It was a charity concert, and he ended up refunding his fee when he started to take some heat for his behavior.
February 17, 2025 @ 7:30 pm
Not to defend Walker or Then What (which is garbage), Nashville spent a lot of effort fishing around in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s for the next Jimmie Buffet before Kenny Chesney finally sort of landed it (commercially, I mean).
Then What and Two Pina Coladas came out at almost exactly the same time, for example.
February 20, 2025 @ 11:12 am
There were definitely worse genre offenders than Walker and McCoy; songs like “Then What?” and “The Shake” came towards the end of their otherwise decent mainstream careers. Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney took the ultimate heel turns in 1999 with “How Do You Like Me Now?!” and “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy”, and they rode those waves for over two decades, much to the detriment of the genre.
February 23, 2025 @ 10:08 pm
Good point, but I’ll defend Toby for writing his own songs at least. Also, I disagree that he made his career on the back of “How do you like me now.”
He wrote some great songs for the time. The karaoke singers who sang drivel and nursery rhymes deserve no quarter. Clay Walker should be thankful that anyone even knows who he is. He is known to be a prick, and nothing positive can be said for Mr McCoy’s wink or shake.
February 24, 2025 @ 2:37 am
“How Do You Like Me Now” was, at least, fresh and different from everything else on the radio. It seemed risky because Toby Keith–it’s written/sung in the first-person–comes off as vindictive, mean and even cruel–traits which most artists do not like to embrace. [When Don Williams released “Rake and Ramblin’ Man” in 1978 he began the song with an “announcement” that he’s singing it about “a friend”–not himself–in order to preserve his “good guy” persona.]
But, apparently, Toby was smarter than more risk-averse artists because “How Do You Like Me Now” went to #1 and was also the #1 country song for the whole year, 2000, per Billboard. Evidently listeners were not turned off by the character’s character.
Whether Toby’s career was “to the detriment of the genre” is a matter of opinion, but I guess Toby care if he was polarizing or worry about the people who he turned off, as long as they were outnumbered by the listeners who liked what he was doing.
February 17, 2025 @ 9:27 pm
There is way too much good music out there the past few years for me to listen to or go to see Clay Walker.
February 17, 2025 @ 9:36 pm
The song he released last year, a cover of a forgotten Toby Keith album cut, is as 90’s country as it gets. Complete with immaculate Tony Brown production.
February 17, 2025 @ 11:03 pm
like some of his music some mind you
February 18, 2025 @ 1:56 am
Dude is a jerk and a has been!
February 18, 2025 @ 4:51 am
Sound move by CW.
February 18, 2025 @ 7:25 am
It’s a win-win. Anyone who does get the reference will find it funny.
It’s also hilarious that Clay Walker thinks of himself as tough. I’ve seen him in Whole Foods multiple times and he is 5’5 and squeezed into skinny jeans like some travel-sized tube of toothpaste.
February 18, 2025 @ 12:20 pm
LOL
February 18, 2025 @ 5:26 pm
I wanted to get a ticket to the Salina show as it is my hometown but it was a bit out of my price range and with it being a Thursday night, don’t want to drive back after on a work night. Like a lot of of his tunes but wish more of his newer stuff would stick to a more traditional sound. Some of his new stuff is good, like When A Cowboy Loves A Woman.
February 19, 2025 @ 6:43 am
as to being considerate to fans – ALL ARTISTS: please include on the poster the day of the week along with the calendar date of the show – so me and Taylor don’t have to go look it up, Thank you.
February 18, 2025 @ 5:42 pm
As a huge Clay Walker fan,I’m glad he’s back touring. His career was blossoming when his MS diagnosis hit,or he’d have perhaps been a Country legend.