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Garth Brooks Explains What’s In ‘Anthology, Part IV’

Garth Brooks’ Anthology series chronicles different chapters in his life and career through stories and music. And his latest The Anthology, Part IV: Going Home, which was released last week (12/6), tells the story of when he stepped away from music for a while. Each volume is filled with music that Garth created during each volume's specific timeframe – and stories that go well beyond the music he was making. The Anthology, Part IV: Going Home offers a more personal look than he’s ever given into the 14 years (2000-2014) that he spent largely out of the spotlight, retired from active touring until his daughters came of age. The country icon explained why The Anthology, Part IV – like all previous installments – includes music along with an extensive narrative and all sorts of never-before-seen photos. He told us, "The most important thing in any stage of any artist’s career is the music. So the music of that time is in every one of these. So it’s kind of like a ‘boxed set,’ really." He added, "So, all the music’s in there. And then the stories of how the songs got written. And then I get to tell the story of what it was like to record it." Garth plans to release another installment of the box set series in the near future chronicling when he returned to playing arenas, a chapter that’ll be the subject of the fifth Anthology installment. RELATED: Garth Brooks Gets Back In The Studio As he prepared for last week's (12/6) release of The Anthology, Part IV: Going Home, Brooks [inlink id="garth-brooks-ends-studio-g" text="closed the chapter"] on another series that’s told its share of stories. Garth brought to close his long-running tradition of taking people “Inside Studio G” live every Monday evening. Brooks said, "I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed the last eight years. It’s been great." In the weekly series, Garth took those who joined him places they’d never been – inside the recording process as he created new music, backstage on tour and behind the scenes at events and awards presentations. It also comforted fans during the pandemic, as he – often joined by Trisha Yearwood – used the platform to bring music into our lives at a time when it wasn’t possible for performers to do so. Those eight years of conversations no doubt helped Garth open up and share more than ever as he worked with others to create the new Anthology, Part IV: Going Home, which takes us to Oklahoma as he returned there in the early 2000s to raise his daughters.

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