Toby Keith is ready to quench fans’ thirst for ‘Red Solo Cup’

His Wild Shot Mezcal was named the “number one premium mescal in the U.S.” by Beverage Media magazine. Want to give it a try? Many concertgoers will have a chance when they visit the Wild Shot inflatable bar on Keith’s current Toby Keith Live in Overdrive Tour. That’s just one of the touches that Keith is bringing on his current tour.

“We are going to have some fun, drink some Wild Shot Mezcal and proceed to party,” said Keith at a trade show earlier this year, echoing what one can imagine are his thoughts on this current tour.

And why wouldn’t Keith have fun? After all, Wild Shot Mezcal is just the latest in Keith’s business enterprises. Of course he’s a much-honored entertainer and the top country earner ($55 million by May 2012) for the second year in a row, according to Forbes. Yet his other enterprises, including the I Love This Bar and Grill restaurants, a clothing line, and a record label, also boosted his profile and bottom line.

It’s fascinating to watch how Keith has integrated the different parts of his business. He had no way of knowing that the song “Red Solo Cup,” the only one he didn’t write on his No. 1 album “Clancy’s Tavern,” would be a viral hit. Yet the single ties in perfectly to the feel-good party atmosphere at Keiths’ tours.

“It’s the only song I didn’t write on the album. It is so stupid that it’s good,” Keith told AOL Music’s the Boot soon after the song was released. “We could play it in here, then play five other songs, give it an hour, walk out and you’d hear the receptionist going [singing], ‘Red solo cup!’ ”

Of course, fans were singing Keith’s songs long before ‘Red Solo Cup’ was even written. Perhaps his best known song is still “Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue.” The Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines not only made derogatory comments about Keith after the song was released, but wore a shirt with an acronym that disparaged him. Keith’s responses and his public stance to end the feud won him even more devotion from his fans, as evidenced by the enthusiastic crowds at his often sold-out shows.

“Keith has a charisma onstage the makes you like him,” wrote a reviewer for the Salt Lake Tribune. “His husky low tenor and hook-heavy songs are so good in part because you can immediately identify a Keith song when it comes on the radio, especially songs from his latest album, “Clancy’s Tavern,” such as the title track, “Red Solo Cup” and “Made in America.” Keith’s catalog is so deep that nearly every song was a beloved anthem from the past decade and a half.”