Keith Urban Recalls His Worst Day in Country Music

Keith Urban has captivated audiences with his songwriting, singing and guitar playing for decades. But it wasn't always easy.

On the latest episode of Taste of Country Nights, On Demand, Urban drives into some of his past memories — some that might not be his warmest to remember.

I asked Urban to describe his worst day in country music. It happened long before he was famous.

"When I was doing my radio tour, when I got started as an artist," he recalls. "For all your listeners, you do the radio tour you go around and introduce yourself to all the stations."

"It can be quite grueling because nobody knows who you are and nobody cares who you are. You just schlep yourself around the country with your promoter from the label, going to so many radio stations."

Hear him tell the full story here:

"We got to the station, and I got my acoustic guitar with me. We walk into the station and the promo guy takes me in and we meet the manager of the station," the "Messed Up as Me" singer continues.

"He says 'Oh, just go into the conference room and get your guitar out and get ready, and we will have everybody come on in.' So I go in there and open the door and there's a meeting going on in the conference room ... so I quickly shut the door, and I went back and I said to the station manager , 'There's a meeting going on in there, just give it a second.'"

But the station manager told him not to worry — just to "slip in there quietly and get your guitar out and it will be all cool," Urban says.

"So I open the door and I go in and I go into the corner of this room and lift my guitar case and one of the guys at the meeting — there must have been 8 people there — he goes, 'Um, can we help you? Hello?'"

Urban goes on to describe how he felt at that exact moment — and it wasn't good.

"And I was like, 'Oh, I'm just getting my guitar.' He goes, 'We're having a meeting here.' I went red, it was so embarrassing, I walk back to the manager and I'm like, 'Let's just get the hell out of here, man.' I'm just so humiliated."

But the station manager insisted the show must go on and decided to escort Urban back into the conference room.

"He takes me in there, it's like your dad walking in. He opens the door and says to everybody, 'Hey guys, this is a new artist and he is going to set up his guitar and he's going to sing a few songs.' They are like, 'fine, fine.'"

"This is going to be my audience that I'm going to play to, and I have to set my guitar up and play to the exact people, sitting with their arms crossed and just huffing and puffing," the megastar says now, recalling how uncomfortable it was for him.

"They bring in some pizza. And that's how I started the whole ... Like, I just wanted to get out of there."

His story ends on a high note, thankfully:

"It went fine, but it was just ... there's so many of those things that they could care less, and it's grueling, and you just gotta do it."

Check out the full interview with Keith Urban on this week's episode of Taste of Country Nights, On Demand, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Evan Paul is the host of Taste of Country Nights, a syndicated radio show heard on more than 130 country radio stations nationwide, every night from 7PM to midnight. He plays the best new country music and interviews today's top stars, like Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Dan + Shay, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Lady A, + more!