Entertainment, Music - Army Times

Touring Keith Urban says boredom drove him to drugs

Rehearsing in Arizona for the launch of his North American concert tour in Phoenix Friday night, recently rehabbed country superstar Keith Urban says he has found a new self-awareness that should serve him well both personally and professionally.

Talking Thursday during a break in rehearsals at an arena in Arizona, Urban says of his three-month stint in rehab that ended in January, “It’s been truly life-changing, and life-finding, too. It’s been a confluence of a lot of things that have opened me up to my life.

“I feel I’m in my life finally. I’m married to the right person [Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman], and I’m spiritually connected. I was drifting off that [spiritual] path.”

Urban says extended concert tours like the one he’s in the midst of — he’s already played Europe and his native Australia — were not the cause of his struggles with drugs and alcohol. Instead, it was the time when he was not playing music that has spurred two stints in rehab.

“Touring has always been a great environment for me. My troubles are always that when I get home, I get bored, silly stuff like that,” says Urban, 39, who has been named male vocalist of the year at the Country Music Association Awards two years in a row.

“I’ve since found a life outside music, and that is what I didn’t use to have. ... It’s been an extraordinary journey.” These days, Urban travels with 11 semi-trailers full of stage and sound equipment and seven buses.

That equipment was on full display as he ran through eight songs from his two-hour concert set on Thursday afternoon.

The setup features a massive video screen behind the stage and a single catwalk that extends three-quarters of the way back on the arena floor. A small stage in the middle of the floor seating lets Urban and his band sit in a circle and play.

“I love to play in the audience and with the audience. I don’t like playing at an audience,” says Urban, outfitted in jeans, a pair of leather bracelets and a brown T-shirt showing off three tattoos on his arms.

Also part of Urban’s equipment is a trailer that holds two Harley-Davidson motorcycles and a jet-black customized chopper that he has his crew ride to relax between shows.

Urban says having fun and staying fit are plenty to keep him busy when he is away from Kidman, 39, who is now filming a movie in Australia.

“I think people have a big misconception about touring. It’s all about playing these two hours,” he says, gesturing toward the arena stage. “The rest of [the time], I get to take these motorcycle rides ... I work out each day — we have a good rhythm of staying present and focused and healthy. So it’s a breeze out here for me.”

Urban has set up a challenging schedule in order to work in visits with Kidman, whom he married in Sydney about a year ago. The two met at a gala event for noted Australians in 2005.

“I come to the States for two weeks and then I go back to Australia because she can’t leave [the movie production], and I can’t be away from her longer than two weeks — I’d go crazy.”

Smiling as he noted that the couple would celebrate their first anniversary later this month, Urban says he’s realized the importance of seeing his wife, no matter where their two careers may take them.

“You can’t take it for granted that it’s fine to leave (for work). It’s not healthy to be away from your partner for too long,” says Urban, who shares a home in Nashville, Tenn., with Kidman.

“Just because I tour doesn’t mean that I have the right to be away for months at a time, and also, it’s not good for me.”

Being with his bandmates in the relaxed atmosphere of a rehearsal clearly is good for Urban.

He was easygoing and jovial as he ran through songs including the hits “Days Go By,” “Making Memories” and “Told You So.”

His band, which earlier had warmed up without the star by playing classic rock by the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Grand Funk Railroad, laughed easily at Urban’s jokes and joined him in a brief stab at Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer.”

“I know one thing,” Urban says at one point. “This (small) stage rocks a lot more than the other one.”

The 20-song set list for Friday’s show is heavy on new material from Urban’s latest CD, “Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing,” which premiered at No. 1 on the carts in November, despite Urban being in rehab at the time.

He already has scored two huge radio hits off the CD, the rocking “Got It Right This Time” and the bittersweet ballad “Stupid Boy.” Both are scheduled to be in Friday night’s show, as are such older hits as “Where the Blacktop Ends” and “You’re My Better Half.”

With four albums that have all topped 1 million in sales, Urban is now a member of Nashville’s elite who routinely sells out venues like the 19,000-capacity U.S. Airways Center. But he was modest about being labeled a superstar:

“That’s such an odd term these days; they throw it around for anybody who is popular.”