Sound Up! interview with Krystal Keith discussing the All-Star NBC special Toby Keith: American Icon

all right coming up tomorrow night on NBC a celebration of one of country's greatest artists Toby Keith American Icon airs on NBC tomorrow night and to give us kind of an inside view to's daughter Crystal joins us welcome thanks for joining us on up Crystal I I I can't even get my head around what it is for a daughter to take part in a situation like this and on top of that you being asked to sing that song yeah um it it was definitely I mean obviously it's an honor to be on the stage with all of those artists it's an honor to be able to be a part of that um it didn't come easy for sure just given that you know it's only been a few months since it's passing so um you know it was a emotional kind of took an emotional toll a little bit we've had a roller coaster um but we are an incredibly strong family we were raised to be strong and just do the next right thing do everything that you need to do and just put one foot in front of the other so we just um we have a lot of um I guess duties that have kind of been um placed on our shoulders and and responsibilities with our foundation and just just his legacy his career his businesses um you know he was bigger than life in literally every facet so you know it it definitely he deserves this kind of um tribute and and we weren't going to let it happen without our involvement for sure for you what's the you know what's the goal for for an event like this for a tribute like this what were you hoping this would reveal or illustrate or you know put out into the world about Toby well I I think the thing he always wanted to be known for was not his music he always um said that his career was needed to be about something more than the music so um his philanthropic our foundation and what the work he's done with that and and how many lives that has impacted I think it was important for us to show that behind closed doors he was constantly working to just make our world a better place for kids with cancer and and um um debilitating illnesses to military families and military men and women and um his work with the Uso and and um and the different branches of the forces so um he really just everything he did his whole heart went into and we wanted to show him as a family man and as the philanthropic person that he was and the Patriot that he was and the amount of love he had for our military I I was going to ask you about that because he he certainly known that's that's one of the things that your dad was known for and what what did that mean to you uh you know part of the tribute was including the the honor guard the US Army Band I don't think that you can have a tribute to Toby Keith or a Toby Keith themed event without having American flags and a military component like they just to us and to his fan base they just go hand in hand that was such a big part of his life and he really loved and cherished all all the time that he spent overseas with our military guys backstage if you've ever been backstage at his concerts I mean there are anywhere from 20 to 60 Wounded Warriors hanging out backstage that he comes out and spends a lot of time with um I have over my years on the road spent time with them just because they're backst he just brings them back and he hangs out with them and kind of just gives them a VIP treatment and and they've kind of all gotten to know us through the years so um you know he really just he lived it and um so you can't you can't have this kind of event without including military you know these songs backwards and forwards and inside out but hearing all of these other folks perform this music Thea I mean whether it's Carrie Underwood or Darius or Eric Church or whoever it is was there anything that you know that you learned about these songs or that you know that came out that um made you see something else in you know what these songs are yeah I think um I was told that you know most of the artists called and said this is the song I want to sing or they were asked what song would you like to sing um we wanted to make sure they were comfortable with whatever song you know we didn't want to assign them a song that they didn't know or have any emotional connection to um Carrie was one that I from what I was told literally she was like you can put me on anything and I'll sing it like she just knew everything um I learned from um Eric Church one of you'll hear in the special so I don't want to say everything but he kind of goes into what my dad meant to him and how um how my dad's um faith in him and and bringing him out on the road has impacted his own career uh you kind of heard from each artist a little bit about what my dad meant to them I think it was really cool to hear that a lot of them have done his songs in their I mean these are artists that sell out Aras and even as a living artist when my dad was still around these artists were paying tribute to him with a song on their stage on their tours and I think that speaks volumes to the respect that they have for him and um so it was definitely um it was definitely heartwarming to know how much of an impact he had on artists that you know at this stage in their career are still reflecting on his impact for them can you talk since we're sort of alluding to some of the songs that that artists have sung can you talk a little bit about that that Joe DIY song that was handed to you yes well that one wasn't that's not the one I did that's the one oh you didn't wind up doing that no no no I didn't do that one I did they asked me to do um don't let the old man in which is the song that my dad last sang on The People's Choice Award yeah so that was his last national televised um ships that don't come in made my performance hard because they they didn't warn us of the timing and they surprised um everyone with a video of my dad's last recording session which was on chips that don't come in he had recorded that in the studio for Hardy's project and so they played all of that footage right before I had to go on stage and my sister had to go on stage so we're like sobbing like trying to you know get ourselves together so that we could go out my sister had to go out and introduce me and say the thank you for the family and then and then I had to go sing so that was um watching that those Studio sessions was um pretty impactful because none of us really were aware that um that footage was there until just right before the show we're g to be talking also to to Alex ketti who was the director and one of the producers on this project but from talking to Alex sort of before during and after uh the event it seems like there was there was really a different feel to this night than sort of what we think of as these kinds of tribute shows the way that it was organized the way that you know people interacted um just sort of the whole thing can you talk about just the you know the feeling in the room and what you felt like was the the thing to go for and and what came out of that yeah I think first of all Bridgestone is a large Arena I that's a very big arena so having most tributes a lot of people don't know but that is a really hard ticket to sell there's a lot of um tributes that come through Nashville there's a lot of times you know anybody that passes away in the industry kind of gets a tribute somewhere um in some form and a lot of those will sell tickets to try to You Know cover costs or whatever and they are really hard ticket to sell they don't usually sell out this one sold out like immediately his fans are so loyal and they love him so much and it was really cool to be there celebrating him with the people that have supported his career for 35 years usually you know in a word show kind of circuit you're looking out at the audience they're mumbling through words they might catch every third word correctly but they're just kind of they're like oh I know the song but don't really know the lyrics his fans know every single lyric they are not mumbling through um it was just really cool to have that energy of like true love and fanship um out in the audience and have that moment to celebrate that with them and then the artist coming in getting to choose their own songs getting a moment to acknowledge his impact on them um was really really special I think also I mean I don't know that I've ever seen a bar on the stage like an actual bar with an actual bartender um I mean I was like texting ordering drinks across I'm like hey can someone have that bartender make me a um so it was it was kind of a unique experience in that there was a huge American flag with Uso members like they got to be up on stage and enjoying the show on stage right behind us as a family and then um the artists got to come off the stage and go hang out in this bar and sit and watch the show also as an audience member so it was it was just a really unique energy and a really uh unique setup that I I hope to see more of because I think it really worked well um you know all of us were like oh I don't know how the bar is going to work out but it really ended up cool watching I mean if you if you look on the side stage during the show all of those artists are singing along and hanging out and usually they you go back to your green room you're done you can go home for the night or wait until the final you know everyone comes out and kind of sings together or whatever but um them getting to stay out there and enjoy it and celebrate with all the fans and us and it just was a really cool Vibe and did this this must have helped you and continues to help you kind of get through between that and and you're overseeing the foundations yeah I think we you know it's just usually you have someone pass away and you have that you have your service and you you know have couple family functions and you you have a little bit of time to grieve but this has been something where for me at least getting to hear his voice over and over again and hear stories about how awes I just I feel so honored he was mine and um you're gonna make me cry don't don't do it um me too but you know I just I really I think that he is everything everyone hoped he would be and he always was for us but I think some people put their own perceptions of him um out there and to go through I mean have you ever seen a celebrity pass away that there was like no bad news to talk about I mean every other celebrity all their crap comes up when they pass away and that it because he lived his life to do the next right thing and he was focused on his career building a life for his family and making it more about making the world a better place than about himself um I think I just I I don't think you get to have those people forever thank you thank you Crystal Keith thank you thank you thank you I can't this this must be you know wonderful and really really difficult to have to do this this kind of gig to put it together to go through it and now then to have to do this stuff and keep talking about it and keep digging back into it we we know it ain't easy so thank you I just feel my feelings it's fine what it's about the best it is the best and I'm sure I'm sure he's looking down I'm sure he is proud I know no doubt thank you thank you cryst Crystal Keith thank you so much for taking some time and we can't wait to see it