CMT Blog: 2010 February

In new videos screened by the CMT New Music Video Evaluation Team this week, Lady Antebellum debuted a new video and Luke Bryan still appreciates rain.

Lady Antebellum
Video: "American Honey"
Director: Trey Fanjoy

Lady Antebellum debut a song and video that are both drenched in rural beauty. Bees and flowers, laundry hung out to dry in the sun, an open field, an old covered bridge and an American honey lying in the grass.

Panelists' comments: "That is gorgeous!" "I wonder where it was shot." "Looks like the same place where Ashton Shepherd shot hers." "Wouldn't that make a lovely Febreze commercial."

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When someone tells me they have key findings from a consumer segmentation study, I would normally tune out before they even get to first finding. Talk of two-year initiatives and reduced consumer spending and revenue pressures are just not turn-ons for me. But, this brand new study from the Country Music Association piqued my interest when it revealed that there are two kinds of country fans that make up the industry's core: CountryPhiles and MusicPhiles. ("Core," meaning they spend the most on the music.)

So I thought if I put this out there for discussion, readers could weigh in on which kind of fan group they belong to. First let me define the two groups the way the key findings did:

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I really should thank Bryan Adams for introducing me to my husband. It was the '80s, we were in college and all I wanted was to meet the Cute Blond Guy in my dorm. I knew he loved Bryan Adams, so in a moment of self-loathing, I feigned a passionate interest in the pop-rock star as well so we could have something in common. I even borrowed Cute Blond Guy's "Cuts Like a Knife" cassette so I'd have another excuse to see him when I returned it. And here we are some 25 years later, and my husband still loves the guy. He's not into country, and when I try to bring him with me to concerts, his standard answer is "If Bryan Adams is going to be there, I'll go." The odds of Adams showing up at say, a Brad Paisley show, were pretty slim. UNTIL LAST NIGHT. Adams got on board the Sony Music Nashville's 24th annual General Jackson Show and Dinner Cruise. But alas, I did not. I've heard that I missed him doing "Summer of 69" with Brooks & Dunn, "Cuts Like a Knife" with Paisley and "It's Only Love" with Carrie Underwood. My husband and I are kicking ourselves for not going. So maybe tonight we'll slow dance to "Straight From the Heart" and make a promise never to miss an opportunity like this again.

Among the most memorable performances I've seen while living in Nashville is Tom T. Hall's appearance yesterday (Feb. 25) at Country Radio Seminar. "The Storyteller," as he's fittingly dubbed, entertained the crowd with an acoustic set and the quirky stories behind some of his biggest hits. He told us he moved to Nashville on Jan. 1, 1964, and that he doesn't do many performances anymore or interviews for that matter. In fact, he said he's tired of being asked the same questions about the state of today's country music. But if you really want to know, he thinks it's just fine. He believes music is an art form that continually changes and evolves. After all, what he's done has already been done.

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Today would have been Johnny Cash's 78th birthday so I'll start this playlist of new music with "Redemption Day," a powerful track written by Sheryl Crow that's on American VI: Ain't No Grave. The recently unearthed collection gathers the remaining tracks from the final years of Cash's life, but there's no doubt his musical legacy remains vital. For example, it was announced yesterday (Feb. 25) that "Guess Things Happen That Way" -- a No. 1 hit in 1958 -- was the 10 billionth track downloaded on iTunes. The lucky purchaser redeemed a $10,000 gift certificate, which should allow him to complete his Cash catalog in its entirety, with a few bucks left over for the following songs.

"Redemption Day," Johnny Cash
"Pretty Melody," Butch Walker
"Before and After," Carrie Newcomer with Mary Chapin Carpenter

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Last week I blogged about Kenny Chesney's "She's Got It All" video, because back in the late '90s that was about the coolest thing I'd ever seen. But there's another vintage video I've been thinking about, because I was so impressed every time I saw it. Alan Jackson's honkytonkin' "Don't Rock the Jukebox" from 1991. It has everything: country instruments floating on the wall behind him! Girls with bad perms! A scene with George Jones! I'd always loved the song because it's hard to argue with how there ain't nothing like a steel guitar to drown a memory. But the video is so sweet because of the introduction Jackson gives. His story is that after playing a dance set at Geraldine's truck stop lounge somewhere in Virginia, he took a break and went over to the jukebox. And so on until he starts singing. And when he's playing guitar, he holds it way up high like Dwight Yoakam does. That was probably just the trend back then, but it looks good on Jackson.

This almost makes me fall to pieces. This announcement of tour stops on Brooks & Dunn's The Last Rodeo Tour. That really makes it officially official: there will be no more chances to see them perform together after this collection of shows. Tickets go on sale on March 6, and I'd like to encourage everyone here to go. Why? Because for all those people bitching that country isn't country enough anymore, Brooks & Dunn will shut you up. They may not have the iconic status of a Haggard or Jennings, but they are pure country. Ronnie Dunn's twang alone on their first big hit, "Brand New Man," gives me goose bumps. Yet for everyone who prefers country that's more rock than it is old-school outlaw, Brooks & Dunn fit that bill, too, especially with songs like "You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl." And if you like your country with a gospel edge or a Southern-rock lean, they have that, too. In their 20 years of making music, they have become the country band with something for everyone. So somewhere between March 20 and August 10, between Houston and Nashville, make sure you find time to watch The Last Rodeo ride off into the sunset.

The new issue of Rolling Stone magazine has a story about how girls are ruling the charts this year. If you look back historically, you can see their domination once in a while -- Alanis Morissette in the '90s, Britney Spears in the early 2000s. But the article doesn't really go into country. Numbers-wise, where do Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, Kellie Pickler, Carrie Underwood and Lee Ann Womack fit with those other girl singers? Or is it that the opposite is true for Nashville's ladies: that while girls dominate all the other charts, are men still the rulers in country?

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The Randy Rogers Band played at Nashville's Cannery Ballroom Wednesday night (Feb. 24), and even though the crowd was a bit talkative, it's clear that the group has a loyal following here in Music City. Personally, I'd really like to see this group get some more mainstream attention since their music has the DIY appeal of their Texas country roots but is slick enough to be accessible to radio. With Country Radio Seminar in town this week, maybe they're hoping to get that message out, but last night was just about doing what they do best, so they gave the crowd their all in what turned out to be a memorable show.

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Uncle Kracker came to Nashville yesterday (Feb. 24) for Country Radio Seminar, now that "Smile" is poised to cross over to the country charts. (It's been a big hit on several pop formats already.) While he was in town, the likeable musician dropped by CMT to perform a few songs, and to talk about the sunny "Smile" video, which he filmed in and around Hale, Mich., during a Fourth of July celebration. And if you're ever in Hale, he highly recommends the bacon and jerky at Alward's -- just look for the storefront awning that says BACON. One of Kracker's dogs, Henry, makes a cameo appearance in the video, just chilling on a park bench. "He's about 120 pounds of 'I-don't-care-one-bit'," Kracker says. If you liked the video for Kid Rock's "All Summer Long" (which Kracker co-wrote), I'd wager that you'll like "Smile," too. Man, I can't wait until summer.