For love of country

This year, however, the Oklahoma native will strictly be a spectator when it comes to the fireworks, as he’ll be busy onstage as the special guest for the annual Boston Pops show at the Hatch Shell on Sunday.

“They just called me out of the blue,’’ says Keith on the phone from an Oshkosh, Wisc., tour stop. “It was an honor to get the call.’’

As surprising as the call was to Keith, the invitation might come as a bigger shock to his critics. Although it has been eight years since Keith threatened “a boot in the ass’’ to the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks on his ultra-patriotic and controversial song “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American),’’ he is acutely aware that the image conjured by that song is, for some people, the sum total of his existence — regardless of anything he may have sung or said before or since.

“The irony of the whole thing is that I’m a Democrat my whole life until the last couple of years when I went independent because my Democratic Party completely lost me,’’ the Obama supporter says with a laugh. “And I can’t be a Republican.’’ He’s also somewhat incredulous that after millions of albums sold, nearly 70 million radio spins, and over 30 top ten country singles — ranging from love ballads to playful honky-tonk romps — only one song still registers with certain listeners. “Isn’t that crazy?’’

As far as the Pops are concerned, there is no problem of perception to overcome. “We’re very enthusiastic about his participation,’’ says Dennis Alves, director of artistic programming for the Pops. “He’s a great American and it’s very appropriate to have him with the Pops.’’

This isn’t the Big Dog Daddy’s first time at the rodeo when it comes to playing with an orchestra. He’s already done a few television performances with symphonic assistance — he even played a little bit of cornet in junior high. “I did it for about a year,’’ he says. His brief tenure ended when “there just got to be too many girls and too much football.’’

Keith, who returns to the area to play the Comcast Center on Sept. 25 and will open an outlet of his I Love This Bar restaurant chain in Foxborough this year, is looking forward to the show. “It will be neat to hear how they structure my songs with the full group.’’

“It’s basically all about finding a place for the orchestra to participate in a meaningful way,’’ says Alves. “You want to pick songs that everybody knows, and you want to find songs that somewhere the orchestra will have a spot to be featured, so it’s not just 75 or 80 people behind him doing nothing or just playing chords and long notes.’’ He promises that arranger Patrick Hollenbeck has a few surprises up his sleeve for the arrangements of popular Keith inquiries such as “Who’s Your Daddy?’’ and “How Do You Like Me Now?’’

The Pops certainly have a wealth of experience backing country musicians, having hosted Rascal Flatts, Big & Rich, and Gretchen Wilson on the Fourth in recent years, and artists like Johnny Cash in the past. “I think some of the best songs are being written in country music because in some ways they’ve almost taken over the kind of music that pop used to be,’’ says Alves. “I think there are great lyrics and melodies, and all of that makes sense for an orchestra. A lot of pop acts are more difficult for orchestras to combine with, because how do you make an orchestra relevant to a rap artist?’’

One issue that remains relevant to Keith is supporting the men and women in the armed forces. He recently returned from entertaining the troops overseas on his annual two-week tour with the USO, and is excited to perform his song “American Soldier’’ in their honor on Sunday.

He hopes to inspire his peers to make the trek. “The biggest reward I get is hearing other artists go over there and say, ‘Man, I heard about you everywhere I went.’ And that’s from doing nine years, 14 days a year, 160 shows. You’re going to build that kind of rapport and respect with people who are over there laying it down for us.’’

Sarah Rodman can be reached at srodman@globe.com.