Keith Urban And Richard Marx Celebrate Their No. 1 “Long Hot Summer” With Some Special Moments In Nashville

The middle portion of yesterday’s No. 1 party at Cabana celebrating the success of Keith Urban’s infectious hit, “Long Hot Summer,” wasn’t all that much different from a lot of other such events on Music Row. Effusive and well-deserved praise was offered up to Keith and Richard Marx, his co-writer on the tune; plaques were awarded; hugs were given and jokes were told (no, in spite of what Richard said, he and Keith did not meet on Craigslist).

 But before the actual award ceremony began, as Keith and Richard took a few questions from the media, Keith revealed some of the challenges he encountered during his lengthy period of complete silence following successful vocal surgery in November. In addition to saying how difficult it had been trying to communicate at social events by writing on his little white pad—“by the time I had written down a comment, everyone had moved on to another topic”—he said he had developed a sore neck by trying to nod enthusiastically enough to let people know he was responding “Absolutely!” instead of “sure.” He also addressed how he dealt with having two small children who weren’t really able to understand why he wasn’t talking to them. To help overcome that, the ever-creative Keith recorded himself reading some of the kids’ books before he had his surgery. “Then, I’d hold a book and turn the pages while the recording played.” Very ingenious and very sweet to think of doing that.

The end of the event was also special as Keith invited a couple of YouTube performers—Leslie Strong of Hazard, Ky., and Patrick Woolam of Kansas City, pictured, right—to come onstage and play “Long Hot Summer” with Keith, Richard and a couple of Keith’s band members. Keith and Richard couldn’t keep the smiles off their faces as Leslie kicked off the tune with a perfect rendition of the tune’s signature guitar lick. Then as Patrick took charge of the lead vocals, the whole room realized what a special moment was happening in front of the 200 or so industry insiders. In short, Leslie kicked buttocks on the guitar and Patrick nailed the vocal. And a surprise moment happened when Keith took over lead vocal duties during the song’s bridge, jumping the gun slightly on his planned first post-surgery performance at the Ryman Auditorium Feb. 3. To say Leslie and Patrick were thrilled would be a huge understatement. But it was absolutely in character for Keith to want to share the stage and the spotlight at an event planned to honor him. He’s one of Nashville’s true good guys, and it’s great to have him back performing again.—David Scarlett

Photos: David Scarlett

Contact: dscarlett@nashville.com or jerry@nashville.com