one man, standing on a stage, alone? did you think maybe we ll put together a band? i just came to sound check the room, basically, so i knew i just needed me to sound check the room to see if i liked it. and, again, this was all at the same point when i was going to tell him, no, thank you. but when you play the room, oh, my god, that encore theater was built for sound, you know? it s danny ganza s theater. this thing was built for an entertainer. larry: i worked it. okay, so you know. most of the places i play are for basketball. or hockey. so sound is kind of high on their list, but not the most important thing. this room, you really don t even need mics. you sit and talk to the people, they talk to you. you fall in love with the room, and he saw that show, and he said, okay, i want to do it. i said, well, whoa, let me bring the band, you ll love the band. so we brought the band out there, played and had a great time. and at the end of the show, he goes, i get the band, but i
reba mcintire cry over garth and trisha. it was fantastic. larry: having the pleasure of being in that audience, one of the great shows i ve ever seen. thank you. larry: how did you get the idea to do it with yourself, period, you and a guitar? when we retired in 2001, the band was gone. so it was just me. and kind of reverted back to a place called willie s in oklahoma state university when i was going to school there. and that s where my music was born and so kind of went back to willie s, just playing other people stuff, showing people what you were raised on and then going back and showing them how that influenced the music that you re playing and writing today. larry: and then you bring on your wife for a couple numbers. tell you what. it s like the ace in the hole, you know, kind of thing. they ll get to a point where they re just about to hang me. i ll introduce her, and then everything is fine again. larry: the beatles, by the way, are now on itunes. but not garth
ground and try and slow everything down for four years until we get our guy in. and when that happen, the other half that didn t vote for him digs in the ground. my thing is our system elects it. once he s in, whoever it is, let s pull together and make the best out of the best four years. larry: we ll have our remaining moments with garth brooks after this.
you want to better yourself. you want to be a better person. you know, ten years down the line, you can have all these things up on your wall, these plaques, all these awards. but if you re not a better musician and a better singer, song writer and a better people, after that ten years, are you really a success? and i think that s the that s the main thing. and after that ten years, if you don t have all those plaques but you re a better person, you re not a failure. that s the important thing. larry: how is garth brooks doing? how much better are you as a player? as a player, at wynn s show, you definitely learn a lot. so i have definitely learned a lot. you get out there and you play. i still use the guitar pretty much just to hide my gut. but, yum, when you get out there, it s just you and that guitar and you re just telling a story. so it s pretty cool. and there s things i can t play. we have a song called shameless and the show that billy joel wrote, and billy joel writes m
that s the money that s going. makes it easy. larry: the way they are. yeah. and so does everybody else. the crews, lighting, everybody, are paying their own pay, because that s where we re from. nashville. larry: the wife going to sing? oh, yeah. i m a smart man when it comes to entertaining, and i know to go nowhere without her, no matter what that takes, because that little gal can bring a room. larry: you mentioned the guitar hiding your gut. have you always had a problem? i ve always fought my weight, always. i m the last of six kids. everybody in the family is athletic, all-states, all-americans and then there was me. and always just did. so larry: you like to eat. i love to eat. you know, my resume, before i got my music job, when it says, you know, name your favorite hobbies, eating and napping was always mine and never could find a job doing that. but now i finally have. larry: what do you think you would have been if you weren t an artist?