Keith Urban Talks About The Importance Of Family, Fans On His New Tour

Keith Urban just embarked on a new U.S. tour this week, but he isn’t leaving the family values behind.

Urban, who is married to Nicole Kidman, took the time to open up to Rolling Stone magazine about how he stays close with his family while out on tour. He either has his wife and two daughters come with him while on tour, or:

“I tour in such a short sporadic way that I am only gone three days and then fly home again.”

During his west coast shows, his family stays in their home in L.A. and Urban flies home to them:

“So I’m zipping in and out from [L.A.]. The girls, everybody comes.”

Urban’s shows have always been crowd-pleasers, which the 46-year-old Kiwi credits to good old-fashioned hard work:

“I am eternally hungry for improvement in every single thing I do. I’m trying to be a better singer. I’m trying to be a better guitar player. I’m trying to put on better shows, put a better set list together, know how to talk to a crowd better, take a crowd on a journey, all of it… It’s a lifetime journey of learning.”

After each show, Keith says that he replays his performance in his mind and applies tweaks where he believes he can do better, so that the next show. This is due, mostly, to his strong dedication to his fans. He wants them to get their money’s worth when they pay to see him. However, he knows that not all tour magic can be pre-planned:

“Those moments that come from somewhere else, just because you feel good, the audience is good, everything is right and magical things happen. Those moments are so beautiful because they are absolute fact proof that this stuff is coming from somewhere else.”

Urban has even been known to bring his family on stage to join him a time or two, and has said in the past that he feels that it’s important to be as genuine with fans as possible.

Keith Urban’s Raise ‘Em Up tour kicks off today in Ohio at the Jamboree in the Hills venue and will continue throughout the fall, culminating on September 13 in Washington state, when he will play at the Washington State Fair. To get a taste of what to expect, here is a live performance of “Raise ‘Em Up” for your listening pleasure courtesy of Keith Urban’s official YouTube channel:

[Photo credit: KeithUrban.net]