Brad Paisley has been a huge supporter of the Ukrainian war effort – from collaborating with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a song called “Same Here” in February, to serving as a global ambassador for United24, which is the country’s official fundraising platform.

After many months of supporting Ukrainian people from afar, the country singer finally got to visit the country this past week. He finally got to meet with the President for the first time face-to-face, as well as getting to tour the city of Kyiv and meeting the people that live there. “It’s an emotional experience seeing all of this firsthand,” Paisley commented during a press conference, referring to the wreckage caused by the war in Ukraine. “For me, looking around this city and being here for the first time, I’m absolutely struck by the resilience of life and the beautiful nature of the way this city is trying to thrive in the middle of conflict.”

It wasn’t all bleak during the singer’s visit; he got to perform for people in St. Michael’s Square in Kyiv, playing guitar while performing the song he had done with the Ukrainian president, “Same Here,” as well as a song known by most music fans in the States (“Take Me Home, Country Roads“), but that was a little unfamiliar to the folks in Kyiv. He led the crowd in a somewhat lackluster sing-along, joking “Terrible!” when few in the audience could fill in the lyric, “West Virginia, mountain mama.” 

Source: TheBoot