It was early summer 2003 when my friend Mica Roberts called. Toby Keith was adding 3 female back-up singers for his Shock’n Y’all Tour, and she wanted to know if I was interested. There wasn’t really an audition, Toby trusted her judgement and Mica made the perfect choice in Laurin Simmons to fill the third spot.

Toby was at the height of his career coming off his Unleashed album and tour with hits like Who’s Your Daddy and Beer for My Horses. His Shock’n Y’all album would produce more #1 singles including I Love This Bar and American Soldier.



That first day out, Toby came up to visit while I was eating lunch. I was surprised at how quiet he seemed. The stage persona full of bravado (and vibrato) wasn’t an act, but just part of who he was. He always seemed like a thinker to me. I admired the fact that he wrote or co-wrote most of his hits. The story of him coming to Nashville with a tape full of what would eventually be hit songs and being turned down everywhere, speaks to his instinct and determination. This scenario would play out again in his career as he changed record labels, more than once, and finally started his own.

Toby knew his audience - well. All the years of playing clubs had helped him build a rapport with an audience and I admired how he had cultivated that over the years, becoming more and more like himself and more confident in doing so. He wasn’t trying to be everything to everybody but focused on being true to himself and his fans.