Brad Paisley on Ukraine visit: ‘We’re more united than we think’

(NewsNation) — Brad Paisley recently wrapped up a visit to Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv. The country music star told NewsNation it “would have been cowardly” to not go see what’s happening in the war-torn country himself after writing a song featuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“I’m just so glad I went. It does change you,” Brad Paisley told “On Balance” host Leland Vittert. “You see this place you see these people, I left there with the impression that in between the air raid sirens, they’re doing their best to be normal.”

Paisley made the trip with a delegation of U.S. senators. The visit came weeks after Paisley released his new song “Same Here” with Zelenskyy.

He performed the song in Kyiv’s Saint Michael’s Square, calling the experience “emotional.” The West Virginia native also shared a light-hearted moment singing “Take Me Home, Country Roads” with those on the square.

“Everyone I met just wanted to say thank you to America. So there’s a real hunger, I think, there to be us right now. And I was struck by that,” Paisley said.

Paisley said a lot of Ukrainians were aware of his song with Zelenskyy, so he decided to learn the chorus of one of their most popular folk songs.

“I’m sure there were probably elements of other languages that I accidentally didn’t nail it. But at the same time, the attempt to sing something to them that they recognized was, I think it meant a lot,” Paisley said. “Finding common ground with people is something that really feeds me as an artist.”

Paisley serves as an ambassador for United24, the official fundraising platform for Ukraine during the Russian invasion. Paisley’s part of the royalties from “Same Here” are being donated to the organization.

One of Paisley’s takeaways from the experience is that “we’re more united than we think.”