Red, White & Boom! is only two days away! In today’s Pre-Boom feature, we take a look at Keith Anderson, a Oklahoma native who has had his fair share of albums and hit songs. Most should know his songs, or at least recognize his name. Keith will be one of the artists performing this Saturday, and will take the stage right before Hank Williams Jr. Hit the jump below to check out part of an interview that The Boot had with him about his vocal surgery he underwent a few months ago. Rest assured, he is back on the road and better than ever!

Below is an interview that The Boot had with Keith Anderson after he had recovered from vocal surgery he had done.. To check out the rest of the interview, click here to visit their site.

Just like the title of his last single, Keith Anderson was somebody who needed a hug earlier this year. He underwent vocal surgery, causing him to park the tour bus and cancel several concerts. The teddy bear of a country singer chatted with The Boot about the surgery and how it helped him heal not only physically, but also spiritually and mentally.

How are you feeling?

I feel better than I’ve felt in years! It was something I knew I’d have to do, but it was still scary. I had a vocal cord that usually by the end of year, when it had been used and used and used, would give me problems. Once every year or two, I would have an internal bleed, where the vessel busts and it swells up and you can’t sing, you can barely talk, and you have to let it rest. So there’s a procedure that’s considered minor, because they’re not cutting the cord. But you know anytime you have surgery, especially if it’s on you, it’s not minor! [laughs]

How long were you out of commission?

There are three weeks of not talking at all right after surgery. You can’t clear your voice, sneeze [or] cough. Then there’s a week before surgery and the last two weeks when you’re rehabbing. I went to a friend’s condo and just hid out. I spent time by myself, and the only time I’d leave was to go to the gym. It healed not just my voice, but I feel better right now physically, spiritually and mentally than I have felt in years. It was something I never imagined that I needed or wanted, but something that definitely got me back to me. Sometimes when you spend time alone you find yourself again.

I went through a lot these last two years, going through my mom’s illness with her and then losing her, and some other personal things. It all hit so quick. I started going through so much grief. There was a lot of stuff that went on inside that I needed to deal with, so I was able to do that while I was recuperating. I did a lot of reading the Bible, a lot of getting back to basics.

Your latest single, ‘She Could Have Been Mine,’ has been popular, but I hear your label is backing off of it and releasing a different song for summer.

I thought that song would have had a lot of reaction to it. You always hear a lot of stories about your songs, but this is the first time I’ve had some of my artist buddies texting or calling me going, ‘Dude, I just heard your song. I’ve been there, I know exactly what you’re talking about.’ So that’s been the cool thing on this one. It has connected with a lot of listeners and artists, but for some reason it just didn’t work out.

Is it disappointing when that happens, especially when it’s such a personal song for you?

It is. That story has not been told in that way before. This friend called me one day and told me about an old girlfriend who had a beautiful daughter. I hung up the phone and thought to myself, ‘She could have been mine.’ That phrase wouldn’t leave me, so I got with Chuck Cannon and we wrote it. I don’t know if it was just the timing of it — maybe there were too many ballads out at that time, or maybe it wasn’t what radio was expecting from me yet. One of hard things for a new artist is not to get pigeonholed into one thing so you can do the whole spectrum of what you love to do.

Stay tuned for tomorrow, when we will post up a feature on the headliner for Red, White & Boom!, Hank Williams Jr., who shouldn’t be a stranger to anyone. Even if you don’t know or listen to country music, nearly everyone has heard of Hank Jr or his dad Hank Sr.