Garth Brooks tackles Twitter to promote 'Man Against Machine'

On Tuesday, when Garth Brooks releases his first studio album in 13 years, he will not be appearing all over television like other big stars do when they issue new albums. He'll be sitting at home in Oklahoma, jumping into social media for the first time.

"We did a thing in the '90s that was more meaningful to me than [doing] media. I stopped in Fan Fair unannounced," he said, referring to an annual convention of country fans held every summer in Nashville. "Got out of my truck. Started talking to people, 23 hours straight, signing [autographs], taking pictures.

"I think that day is coming for Twitter. I can spend a lot of time in my pajamas doing that. That's fun."

Sounding less certain about the "fun" part, he added: "Social media is a very powerful thing and it needs to be treated carefully." Evidently, because his Twitter handle won't be disclosed until Tuesday.

While the album will mark Brooks' first foray into social media, "Man Against Machine" sounds like a good ol' Garth Brooks record, with one exception — the hard-edged title track. But don't imagine it's about Garth vs. the Nashville machine, one he hasn't been a part of for more than a dozen years.

"Take Garth out of the picture," he said in an interview last week. "I think it's music against technology ... music that slaves its butt off to communicate with people, and technology kind of getting in the way, because you've got to run it through certain matters to get to people."

The title track is one of three selections that Brooks co-wrote on the 14-song collection. He collaborated with Amanda Williams on "She's Tired of Boys," a tale of a young, college-educated woman who pursues an older, apparently blue-collar man.

"No, no, no," he said. "It's just that summer [fling] in reverse, as you get older. I just love the feel of that tune."

The third Brooks-penned song is "Rodeo and Juliet," done with Bryan Kennedy, writer of such Brooks hits as "Good Ride Cowboy," "The Beaches of Cheyenne" and "American Honky Tonk Bar Association."

"Bryan came to me and said, 'How come nobody's ever written 'Rodeo and Juliet?' I said, 'How would you do it?' He reads Shakespeare all the time and a lot of cowboys read Shakespeare. I don't know if 'Faust' has ever gotten any country songs. If not, I'm proud to be the first one."

Brooks said his favorite song on the album is "Mom." In fact, he thinks it will rival "The Dance" as his all-time favorite Garth Brooks song. "This is a song that should have been written 50 years ago. It's a conversation between God and an unborn child getting ready to come down to Earth," he said, his eyes welling with tears. "When God tells this little baby what a mom is, it'll kill ya."

"Man Against Machine" and the single "People Loving People" have already been in Brooks' repertoire during his Target Center engagement, which has five more concerts on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Now that the album has been released, he said he might add some other new tunes for his concerts.

"Good for her," Brooks said. "Music needs her. Trust me, she's a better second- and third-week seller. Those numbers will increase dramatically toward Christmas. We needed that. The industry thanks her."

Will his album do better than that in opening-week sales? "Uh-uh," he said.

But maybe Swift will start following him on Twitter.

Twitter: @JonBream • 612-673-1719