Brad Paisley, country singer of subtlety

By the time Brad Paisley's debut, "Who Needs Pictures," came out in 1999, the then-27-year-old had already written and performed for bands in his Glen Dale, W.Va., hometown for 15 years. He's a natural country star, looking good in a hat and playing a mean guitar, but he has an eye for subtle, touching family details and a refreshing intolerance for traditionalists. "You wear the pants, buddy, good for you," he sings in 2009's "The Pants," "I'm so impressed, yeah, whoopty-doo."

Here are five other songs that helped build Paisley's career, some of which you'll likely hear tomorrow morning at his show in Central Park and at night, when he plays at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater.

1'He Didn't Have to Be.' One of Paisley's first hit singles, in 1999, was this touching ballad about a 5-year-old boy whose single mom suddenly gets married. "It seemed so strange to me / How we've gone from something's missing / To a family," he sings.

2'Alcohol.' Paisley has sung in bars since he was 12, he told National Public Radio, and he became fascinated with how people he'd known his whole life became completely different by 1 a.m. For this 2005 hit that remains his live finale, he pulled off a clever songwriting trick: The alcohol is the narrator. Paisley juxtaposes the darkness of substance abuse with the goofy fun of drinking (which, he sings with a wink, helps "white people dance").

3'Ticks.' Paisley turns an unlikely love-song chorus -- "I'd like to check you for ticks" -- into a 2007 smash and one of his signature songs. He even gives this track novelty, with guitar solos that have the feel of flicking bugs away.

4'American Saturday Night.' The title track of Paisley's 2009 album seems like a jingoistic "God Bless America" rocker, but it's really a celebration of U.S. diversity, listing out-of-town treats such as French kisses, Italian ice, Canadian bacon and German cars.

5'A Man Don't Have to Die.' The punch line of this sarcastic, mid-tempo 2011 rocker is " . . . to go to hell." Paisley didn't write the post-recession story of a man who loses his job and family, but his guy-on-the-next-barstool voice softens the anger and makes it poignant.

This story first

appeared in Newsday.