Sun. July 4 

Anything special going on today? Oh, right, Esplanade, Hatch Shell, 800,000 celebrating ourselves. And who better to do it Toby Keith - the most popular country singer-songwriter in America with more than 30 million albums sold – who will be joining the other Keith (Lockhart) and the Boston Pops for  the program. We spoke with Keith for a Boston Herald (www.bostonherald.com) piece that ran Thursday. This is an expanded version.
   Normally, Keith spends the day at his Norman, Oklahoma ranch with his wife, Tricia, and two of their children.  This year, the Boston Pops made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. “They started calling months ago,” Keith says, from a tour stop in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. “I said, ‘I don’t know. I always spend the Fourth of July home with the family.’ And I got to thinking, ‘I get to play with the Boston Pops and play in one of my very favorite cities. I can head out that way or stay at home.’ I can stay home any time.”
   So, on Sunday he’ll join the Pops for the 37th annual Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, starting at 8. It’s America’s No. 1 Independence Day celebration, and a portion is broadcast nationally. A million people could turn out to see it live.
    If you like your holiday heavy with patriotism, pomp and pyrotechnics, it doesn’t get much better than this.
   The show, of course, ends with 20 minutes of fireworks, something familiar to Keith fans who experience that at his concerts. (He’ll play Comcast Center with Trace Adkins Sept. 25.)
   But right now, Keith, who turns 49 a week on July 8, is focused on the fourth.
   “The Boston Pops says it all,” says Keith. “There’s lots of instrumentation, lots of fantastic musicians.”
   When it came to song selection, one easy choice was Keith’s 2003 hit “American Soldier.”
  “The Pops called and said they wanted to do a grand scale, full-blown version,” says Keith, “and they had some other songs they wanted to stretch out. I said ‘Go for it.’ I told ‘em to learn off the actual recordings and we’ll be fine. I do ‘em to the letter and they’re pros. They sent back four or five songs, but there’s only so much time on TV.”
    So, “American Solider” and a medley of “How Do You Like Me Now?!” cqand “God Love Her” will have a national TV audience. Keith and the Pops will also play “Who’s Your Daddy?” for locals.
     As with most of today’s country hit-makers, there’s a lot of pop and rock in Keith’s music. But, he says, “I have never ever had a pop hit, not one that kind-of crossed over. So whatever ‘country’ is today, I’m that.”
    He’s not a Democrat, however. He was one, having grown up in a family of conservative Democrats. But last year, Keith left the party to become an independent. It all stemmed from criticism he got from the left in response to his controversial, post-9/11 anthem, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).”
    “I grew up after Pearl Harbor,” Keith continues, “and realized 9/11 was the next Pearl Harbor. We retaliated. Most wars are unnecessary, but we’re in one that is necessary. I knew that we were gonna send troops. If we’re sending volunteers in the army, I’m gonna say ‘I want you to win. I want you to go take care of this so this evil doesn’t have to affect America anymore.’”
   The Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines,cq among others, criticized him for the pro-military, go-get-‘em tone of the song. Keith sang about lighting the enemy up like “the fourth of July.” Maines called it “ignorant.”
    “You’re a Democrat all your life and do charity work out the wazoo,” says Keith. “So, because you support the troops you’re a warmonger? Since when does being patriotic and supporting the troops bring hate from your own party? I’m the fuckin’ bad guy?
    “Where did that come from? I’m ashamed to be affiliated with people who don’t have any more respect for themselves.”
     Keith’s brand of patriotism is bi-partisan.   “I don’t care who the president is,” Keith says. “I’m gonna respect him. Doesn’t matter if it’s Clinton or Bush or Obama. He’s the commander-in-chief and our people voted him in.”
  Craig Ferguson hosts.

Hatch Shell, Esplanade, Storrow Drive,  www.july4.org