Tippin tops off Shriner weekend with stadium concert

Speaking a few weeks before the 14^th anniversary of 9/11, Aaron Tippin shared some background of “Where the Stars and Stripes and Eagle Fly,” a hit from 2001.

It was among a core of country artists’ memorable recordings that resonated at that time, each so heartfelt, distinguished and touching, along with Darryl Worley’s “Have You Forgotten?” Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)?” and Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue.”

Tippin said the “Stars and Stripes” single upon its release, a fundraiser for the American Red Cross disaster relief chapter in Nashville, Tenn., was co-written with two other men “two years before the enemy attacked us.”

“I always put something patriotic on our albums,” said Tippin, who will headline a concert at 7 p.m. Saturday with the Southern Drawl Band and Melanie Howe at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark in Myrtle Beach. The event will close the 42nd South Atlantic Shrine Association Fall Festival, a benefit for Shriners’ Hospitals for Children and other related charities for youth burn victims.

Calling early one morning last month from home in middle Tennessee, Tippin said “Stars and Stripes” lacked any reference to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but “in the end, it had a purpose” with its release that autumn, among “a lot of great songs written about 9/11.”

Amid “our country being sucker punched,” Tippin said he’s grateful his anthem gave a lift and “talked about who we are as Americans.”

Active with charities, Tippin said he likes contributing to causes with music that helps drive people, and that “I just happen to be the guy singing songs.”

“If my music encourages people,” he said, recognizing artists’ “ton of songs” to which people can relate, “I’m thankful for that. That’s the blessing I’ve had over the years.”

Tippin said his career in the business began in 1990 on a USO tour with the late Bob Hope. His 25-year anniversary album set released this year by the Nippit label comprises 10 hits such as “You’ve Got to Stand for Something,” “There Ain’t Nothing Wrong with the Radio,” “Working Man’s Ph.d.,” and “Kiss This” – for which the co-writers included wife Thea, with whom he celebrated a 20-year anniversary this year – as well as 10 new recordings, and five more from other genres fans not have expected to hear from him. Those surprises include “The House Of The Lord,” “The Way You Look Tonight” and “Let’s Stay Together.”

Also, look for a photo of Hope “holding a microphone to my mouth while I’m singing to 200 troops in the Saudi desert,” Tippin said, loving his involvement with charities to “entertain the troops,” and happy to eat “MREs for Thanksgiving” in remote places.

Tippin said with this compilation double-CD, he had not stopped at 10 years “to smell the roses,” but he remains “thankful I still got it.”

The father of a grown daughter and two teen boys, Tippin said his silver celebration also popped with his Country Jam blackberry wine, made by Stonehaus Winery in Tennessee’s golf capital of Crossville, and “selling like hotcakes” after he chose from several red varieties to taste the right way to commemorate this milestone year.

Born in Pensacola, Fla., Tippin sports a sabal palmetto and crescent moon on his right upper arm, a tribute to South Carolina, where he said he lived from age 4 to 25, near Greer and Travelers Rest, “way out in the sticks.’

The graduate of Blue Ridge High School said that back then, “all my buddies had tattoos,” so he concluded, upon having South Carolina’s signature historic symbol inked on his arm, “I could roll up my sleeves and walk into church and not be shy.”

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 1:00 AM with the headline "Tippin tops off Shriner weekend with stadium concert."