Brad Paisley and Family: Why They Are the Most Normal People in Nashville

If you were to walk onto a sprawling farm just outside of Nashville, you might see a guy in a cowboy hat fussing over a newborn donkey. He looks like a local. He sounds like a local. But then he cracks a joke about how he almost forgot his wife’s birthday because he was so distracted by the farm animals, and you realize it’s Brad Paisley.

Honestly, the story of Brad Paisley and family is kind of an anomaly in the world of country music. Usually, when people get this famous, things get messy. There are public feuds, messy divorces, or kids who end up as tabloid fodder.

The Paisleys? They just... don't do that.

The Weird, Movie-Like Way It All Started

Most people know that Brad is married to actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley. You probably remember her as the daughter in Father of the Bride. What you might not know is that Brad was actually on a date with a completely different girl when he first saw Kimberly on the big screen in 1991.

Talk about awkward.

He was 19. The girl he was with eventually dumped him for his best friend. Years later, Brad went to see the sequel by himself, basically hoping his ex might show up so they could fix things. She didn't. But Kimberly was back on the screen, and Brad found himself thinking she seemed like the exact kind of person he wanted to meet—smart, funny, and seemingly down-to-earth.

Fast forward to 2001. Brad is casting the music video for "I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)." He decides to cold-call Kimberly. He figured it was "poetic justice" to cast the girl from the movie that defined his biggest heartbreak.

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They’ve been married since 2003. In a town like Nashville where "forever" often means "until the next tour," two decades is basically an eternity.

Raising Huck and Jasper Outside the "Bubble"

Brad and Kimberly have two sons: William Huckleberry (Huck), born in 2007, and Jasper Warren, born in 2009. As of early 2026, these "boys" are now 18 and 16.

Think about that. They’ve grown up entirely in the spotlight of a Country Music Hall of Famer, yet most fans wouldn't recognize them in a grocery store. That’s intentional.

The Paisleys are famously private. They don't post their kids' faces on Instagram. They don't do reality shows. They live on a farm because they wanted their kids to care more about excavators and mud than red carpets.

Brad once told The Boot that he felt lucky to be able to "shelter" them from the weirdness of fame. He wanted his personal values to be the loudest voice in their heads, not the internet's. It seems to have worked.

Why Service Matters to the Paisleys

A few years ago, Kimberly realized their kids were living in a bit of a "celebrity bubble." They had everything they needed. She wanted them to understand that not everyone in Nashville—or the world—was so lucky.

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She took the boys to volunteer at a place called Unity Shoppe in California. It’s a "free" grocery store where people in need can shop with dignity. This wasn't just a one-time photo op. It changed the entire trajectory of Brad Paisley and family.

They decided to bring that model to Nashville.

"The Store" and the $1 Million Spark

In 2020, right as the world was shutting down due to the pandemic, Brad and Kimberly opened The Store. It’s a year-round free grocery store located on the campus of Belmont University.

It’s not a food pantry where you get a pre-packed box of canned beans you might not even like. It’s a real store. People walk in, take a cart, and pick out fresh produce, meat, and dairy.

Just this month, in January 2026, the organization made headlines again. Taylor Swift—who has deep Nashville roots herself—made a massive "generous gift" to The Store. This donation is helping the Paisleys expand to a second location in Middle Tennessee.

Brad’s take on it is pretty blunt: "It's not until you open something like this that you really see the need."

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How They Keep It Together

How do they stay married and sane? Humor.

If you follow Brad on social media, you know he spends half his time making fun of himself and the other half making fun of the fact that Kimberly is way out of his league. She gives it right back.

She recently joked that if a donkey hadn't been born on their farm on her 54th birthday, Brad probably would have forgotten the date entirely.

That’s the secret sauce. They don't take the "superstar" thing seriously. They take the "parent" thing and the "neighbor" thing seriously.

What We Can Learn from the Paisley Way

You don't have to be a multi-platinum singer to take a page out of their book. Here is how they actually handle their lives:

• Protect your "inner circle" fiercely. You don't owe the world access to your kids or your private moments.
• Service as a family value. Don't just tell your kids to be grateful; show them why they should be.
• Humor over ego. If you can't laugh at yourself, you're going to have a hard time in a long-term relationship.
• Dignity in giving. When they built The Store, the focus wasn't on "charity," it was on "choice."

If you're looking to support their mission or get involved in similar work, the best place to start is looking at local "choice-based" food programs. You can also check out TheStore.org to see how their model is evolving in 2026.

Sometimes, the most "rockstar" thing you can do is just be a decent human being who looks after his neighbors. Brad Paisley seems to have figured that out a long time ago.