If a college ever included a course called Couplehood 101, keith urban would be required listening. It gives a detailed and expressive tour of every phase possible in a relationship - the giddy joy of finding someone you want to spend all your time with, the exhausted surrender to a mate who won't commit, the deep devotion that settles in after that giddy start, the stark reality of being alone again after a breakup, the simple contentment of sharing a life together. The experiences ring true because Keith lived them, and learned. "I realized how important it is to have someone beside you, in your corner no matter what may happen. A partner," urban says. "When you have that, you're free to do whatever you need to do."

Women who hear the songs are surprised by the emotions conveyed, but men will recognize themselves immediately. "I Thought You Knew" is the lament of a man who assumed that the woman in his life understood how much he cared, even when he didn't express it. "But For the Grace of God" captures a moment when a man, hearing another couple's problems, realizes he has something to treasure. On "It's A Love Thing," the first single from the album, urban proudly declares his intention to decline a night out with the guys, so that he can spend time with his girl. Loneliness and heartbreak permeate "Out On My Own," but the song ends with a reassuring note.
"I try to see the light, even in the darkest circumstances," says urban. "There are songs on the album about losing love, but not being beaten or downtrodden by that loss."

The music fits hand in glove with the emotions. A gifted musician, Keith teamed with noted keyboardist Matt Rollings to produce the album. "I saw Matt at work and thought, 'you're the guy.' His temperament was even and his sense of quality was extremely superior," says urban. He paid attention to detail without being anal. He has a great sense of rhythm and melody and we share the same sonic sensibility." Rollings, one of Nashville's top musicians, hired urban as a session player on an album he was producing and the two immediately clicked. Impressed by the way Matt worked with the musicians, Keith asked him to produce his solo record. Rollings, wowed by Keith's talent, jumped at the chance. urban's fresh approach to country music was enhanced by Rollings. "Matt knows how to cast the right players for a particular song," says urban, "and because he's a session player himself, he knows how to read the players and get the best performance from them."
 
As the leader of a country band in Australia, urban melded country with rock guitar. In Nashville, with the band The Ranch, he incorporated R&B into the mix. Now working on his solo album for Capitol, he imported the rhythms of pop and hip-hop. "When I listened to hip-hop music, I would hear banjos in my head," Keith says. "And so I set out to fuse drum loops with country instrumentation on this album," says urban, "not as a novelty, but as a great marriage of rhythm and computer percussiveness with banjos and acoustic guitars and fiddles."

urban grew up in Australia with parents who loved American culture, and especially country music. The first records he heard were by Charley Pride, Dolly Parton, Don Williams and Jim Reeves. He picked up a guitar at age six and knew at seven that he would go to Nashville to play country music. By age eight he was winning country music talent shows, so it's not surprising that he had steady work in a band as a teenager. After hearing the music of Dire Straits, he bought their albums and learned every song note by note. He began to throw what he learned into his solos onstage. The resulting fusion of rock-style guitar work with country music became urban's signature style. In 1988, he formed a three-piece band whose distinctive take on country music led to solid success in their home country. After charting four #1 country singles, he made the move to Nashville. Once there, he formed another three-piece band, The Ranch. Their live shows caused a buzz in town, eventually leading to a deal with Capitol Nashville and the release of a self-titled album. Critics raved about the album's unique take on country music and Keith's virtuoso guitar playing. Other artists also took notice, and when the group disbanded, they called on Keith to add some of his fleet-fingered magic to their records.

Garth Brooks asked urban to play on Double Live. After co-writing some songs with the multi-talented urban, hip-hop impresario Stevie J (Mariah Carey, Puff Daddy and the Family, Aretha Franklin, R. Kelly and more) offered an open invitation to work together again anytime. Steve Wariner, no slouch on strings himself, loved urban's work. He offered Keith a song he wrote, "Where The Blacktop Ends" for his album, and contributes background vocals and guitar to the track. The Dixie Chicks invited him to play on their second album, and Emily Robison and Martie Seidel return the favor by singing on "I Wanna Be Your Man (Forever)."

Pure musicianship would be enough to keep urban working steadily, but he has a goal beyond that. "I have this need to keep country being perceived as a cool genre and a broad genre," urban says. "I really think that country is a genre as big as rock and roll. I would love to get to the point where someone asks, 'What kind of music do you play?' I say 'Country.' And they say, 'Great. What kind of country?'"