Garth Brooks is currently playing a string of dates at the Las Vegas’ Wynn Casino, which run through February, but don’t expect him to take his show on the road for a full tour just yet. The 49-year-old country music icon won’t be coming out of retirement, at least until his youngest daughter graduates from college in 2014.

“I don’t think you ever stop being a parent, but when we become emptynesters … well, my youngest graduates in May of 2014. So, we become emptynesters right around then, and who knows,” Brooks says when asked about his future career plans. “Our business, as you know, this business is very fickle, so there might not be a hole for us. But if there is, I would love to tour again for the first time ever without guilt from being away from either your spouse or your children. Now my children are off doing their own thing, and my spouse is with me. You know we’re together on tour, so I think that would be all the fun things.”

Since his retirement from music in 2000, Brooks has played scattered shows here and there, but if he and wife Trisha Yearwood were to hit the road in 2014, it would still be almost a decade and a half since his last official tour.

Brooks assures, however, that he does want to get back into music in some form. “There’s always hunger to create because I believe that’s what I do. I believe that’s what I’m supposed to be doing. With that said, I’ll try because, you know, I’ll try not to get too far ahead of myself. The situation that music retail is in right now does not excite me. I love to create. At the same time, you want what you’ve created to be viewed as a success, and right now I don’t see many successes out there — simply because the way the system is set up, not because the music isn’t any good.”

Compilations aside, the country music legend has not released an album with all new material since his 2001 delivery, ‘Scarecrow,’ which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard, topped the country charts and churned a handful of successful singles, like the fan favorite ‘Wrapped Up in You.’ If and when he returns to the game — should country music welcome him back with open arms — Brooks says he doesn’t know if releasing his tunes digitally, i.e. on iTunes, would be as significant as he’s hoping to be in his comeback.

“I’m not sure. I don’t think the system right now is set up for extraordinary significance. And I think the system does have something to do with that. People will misconstrue that statement as commercialism or marketing, but the truth is I don’t think we view music right now as something that is extraordinary, and I think a lot of that — the reason why we don’t — is it’s become too disposable,” Brooks explains.

He adds, “I think we owe it to music to take a break, to try and figure out how it’s treated after it’s released, and hopefully it will be more favorable by the time we are going back on tour — if we do.”

More From My Country 95.5