CMT Blog: Jennette McCurdy

"The Taylor Swift Playbook is making the rounds." That's what The New York Times has to say about the influx of talented, young, blond singer-songwriters getting their collective feet in the door in Nashville. It lists some up and comers like Veronica Ballestrini, Jesse Lee, Whitney Duncan, Jennette McCurdy, Jessie James, Mallary Hope and Katie Armiger. And while the writer admits that youth used to be a bit of a liability in Nashville because country music leaned so heavily on life experience, things have changed and now fans' arms are more open. That videos fill the gaps. And that "the radio industry has lost its position as the genre's reliable indicator of success." Check out the videos from a few of these rookies mentioned by The Times.

Rookie artists, enthusiastic publicists and weird guys living in their parents' basements send me country songs all the time. And I always listen. But a song has to be really, really good to keep me listening past, say, the first 30 seconds. That rarely happens with new artists.

This time, though, I was moved to listen to this song not once or twice, but about 10 times. It's like someone took half of Taylor Swift, half of Miley Cyrus, poured some fiddle all over that and voila: Jennette McCurdy. The fusing of young vocals and traditional instruments gets me every time.

Read more...