Toby Keith [ tickets ]'s 13th album, "American Ride" debuted at No. 3 on the US album chart this week, marking the country singer's 10th set to land in the Top 10 on The Billboard 200.

Spurred by the success of its title track, "American Ride"--the fourth non-holiday album released on Keith's own label--moved 90,000 copies during its first week in stores, according to Nielsen SoundScan retail figures as reported by Billboard.

On Sunday (10/18), Keith will be honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association International, which will present him with its Songwriter/Artist of the Decade Award.

"If I am ever in a position to be in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, it won't mean any more than this," Keith said during an interview with LiveDaily prior to an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" and a quick ride to Dodger Stadium to catch a Dodgers-Cardinals playoff game. "Any award given to me by songwriters is the ultimate. That's the apex of awards. The ultimate respect is being paid by the people who do what you do and they look at the body of work and go, 'Here's the guy with the most No. 1s in the decade, most spins as a writer. We're going to recognize that.' I'm completely at a loss for words to tell you how big it is to me."

After accepting his award in Nashville, Keith will then head to Europe for a tour in November and an appearance at the Nobel Peace Prize concert.

Known for his hits "As Good As I Once Was," "God Love Her," "Who's Your Daddy?" and "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)," Keith spoke with LiveDaily about songwriting, his years away from the major labels, and how beer drinkers of Europe are not singing "I Love This Bar."

LiveDaily: You started playing "American Ride" on the last US tour in the summer. What drove the decision to introduce a new song that was not out yet?

Toby Keith: We had started recording the album right as the tour was starting. We had two songs: "Every Dog Has Its Day" and "American Ride." As soon as the tracks were done, I knew it was everything we wanted it to be. So, we did two more songs, but I said, 'Before we finish those, let's concentrate on finishing the first two.' We mixed, mastered, overdubbed. We had a song sitting at about No. 10, "Lost You Anyway." I said, "Yank that song; it's just a turntable hit."

First night of the tour, we played in Tampa, and there has not been a night in which we played that song and the crowd has acted any different. They acted like they knew it. They didn't have to listen to it. They heard as it was coming at them, did the na-na-na's at the end and it was just like they had heard it a thousand times.

After the [Tampa] show was over, three radio stations were lined up at my bus saying ‘Hey, that song you did ... what is that?' I say ‘That's my next single.‘ ‘Can we have a copy?‘ ‘I don't have it.' A few days later, we were able to send out downloads and it took off--No. 1 for 14 weeks.

The tune was written by Joe West and Dave Pahanish and is rather observational about noisemakers in American society. You write most of your own material. What about this one appealed to you?

There is no opinion in the song. It just says, "Yak-yak-yak-yak look ma, no hands." No way some booger-eating nerd who writes blogs sitting around in his underwear can hammer you for it because there is no opinion in there. There is an opinion in "Courtesy of the Red White and Blue." I want America to win. I'm for Team USA. I don't apologize for that.

Once you're in the political crossfire, it doesn't matter if you've got 20 other No. 1s besides "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue." I seen it first hand, how they take things out of context. Just because I pull for the troops doesn't mean I don't like or don't support the commander in chief. I support national health care for working people. Right wing, left wing ... why can't it be right and wrong instead of right and left? This song makes fun of all of those jackasses who come on TV and [shout about] things like SARS and Y2K and swine flu and global warming and illegals.

The songwriting on this album has a unifying quality. The songs are increasingly character- and story-driven, but a number of them still have an anthem feel on the choruses. Do you sense an evolution?

Subconsciously, I write more for my live show. Record labels are dinosaurs, so I know my business is driven by that live show. You can't buy it for 99 cents; you have to come get it. I don't necessarily see the anthem songs as singles. [The ballad] "Cryin' for Me (Wayman's Song)" and [the uptempo] "Every Dog Has Its Day" will be the singles that carry the long haul.

To that point, "Gypsy Driftin'" is written from the perspective of being onstage. Have you ever used that point of view?

Never. [Co-writer] Bobby Pinson was out here and he said, "It's amazing how we can be sitting around watching a ballgame on TV and 20 minutes later you walk out to 20,000 people and stomp their neck and pull their tails off." He said, "Its just beautiful that, no matter how bad you're feeling or if you have a cold or your feet are hurting how much lack of sleep, how it all changes when you go out." It's an anthem to the fans.

Will you be adding that to the live show?

We'll add "American Ride" and "Crying for Me (Wayman's Song)" for Europe. Play those two along with "God Love Her" at the Nobel Peace Prize concert.

Is the show set for Europe or is it a continuation of the US tour?

They don't play all the same singles as here. You have to ask them. "You play 'Who's Your Daddy?'" "Yes." "You play 'Little Less Talk'?" "Yes." "You play 'I Love This Bar'?" "No, don't know that one." You'd think everyone in beer-drinking Dublin and Germany would be singing "I Love This Bar," but they they pick the singles they want. The other side of that is, I've got five or six hits that aren't singles over here, like "Where You Gonna Go What You Gonna Do When You Get There" or "White Rose Filling Station." We've never played those songs live, so we've got five sings to learn. There are about six or eight songs we won't play over there.

When will the US tour start?

We usually do 58 to 60 shows in the summer. We do a short, three-weekend thing in February just to keep everybody's chops up, make sure everybody's ready to rock and s--- down in March and April. In May, we do USO and get the new production in order. We go outdoor all summer until October. It works perfect.

We'll be on our third single by then, probably doing "Every Dog Has Its Day." [Between March and May], we'll be in the studio starting to hammer out another album.

Most acts don't have the liberty of making a schedule like that work consistently for them. Do you sense that all of this ties in to you taking control when you formed Show Dog Nashville?

We don't have bad days in the business world. For 12 years, I was on major labels, and it was about every day that you had a little blow-up or a red flag or a cancer that had to be tended to. You weren't dressing right or your album wasn't quite up to par or there's too much rock or too much country. It was something all the time. "We need to ask a freebie of you," "We need you to go play at a radio station." None of that exists anymore. There is no way I could have pulled "Lost You" and put out "American Ride" at any other period in my career. It would have been pulling teeth at a label. If this was a song that was going to change my career, it wouldn't have been sitting at No. 10. Let's not sit here and nurse this thing all the way to No. 1. Let's get it out of the way and land with some impact here. I had a tour that was going to be seen by nearly a million people. Let's play something new, something impactful. You would never get to do that at a major label.

I don't answer to one soul. I didn't do it well anyway, having to get up everyday to talk with the label. It was just red tape; everyone wanted a reason to get a pat on the back and that made me non-productive. Not one small thing negative [happened] when I switched. We have done nothing but increase my [music publishing earnings] every year, increase my show every year and nothing but continue to have No. 1s. It has been a breath of fresh air.