CMT Blog: Reba McEntire

The CMA Awards are always entertaining, and this year's event was no different. I do want to say that Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood infusing their hosting duties Wednesday night (Nov. 11) with some music was a welcome addition. Taylor Swift's opening performance was rockin' -- even for Taylor. I admit I'm a little speechless. Congrats to Lady Antebellum for their wins for single and vocal group of the year and to Jamey Johnson for his song of the year win ("In Color"). The Zac Brown Band's performance of Charlie Daniels' "Devil Went Down to Georgia" was probably the most fun to watch  -- especially since he did the version with the "old lyrics" -- and how about that fiddle solo?

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You have to wait 12 more days until the actual special premieres on Nov. 10. But right this minute you can get some very cool behind-the-scenes interview footage from In The Spotlight With Robin Roberts on ABC. She went down south to get the inside scoop on Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw and more. But in a special section on their Web site today are great mini-clips with plenty of stand-out moments. Like Underwood telling Roberts, "I remember the day people started treating me differently. You say to yourself, 'I'm thirsty,' and somebody brings you water." And then McGraw giving Roberts a tour of his 900-acre farm and the big old house where he and his Dancehall Doctors rehearse. Then she even gets a few stars to sing bits of their favorite country songs: Reba McEntire does Steve Wariner's "The Weekend," Darius Rucker does Radney Foster's "Easier Said Than Done," and Underwood does "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On" by Mel McDaniel, a fellow native of Checotah, Okla.

In an interview several years ago, Reba McEntire told me the national anthem isn't a particularly difficult song to sing. However, enough celebrities have embarrassed themselves while performing the song to prompt Time magazine to compile a list of the Top 10 worst renditions. (The list includes Michael Bolton, R. Kelly and, of course, Rosanne Barr.) McEntire's point, though, was that the national anthem's reputation as a hard song to perform is because most people don't sing it all that often. She added that even when professional singers perform the song, it's usually a high-pressure situation at a major sporting event. And we all know that PA systems at stadiums are designed for spoken announcements, not music. However, singer-songwriter Keni Thomas turned in a remarkable performance in New York prior to Wednesday night's (Oct. 28) World Series opener at Yankee Stadium. As a former Army Ranger and member of the elite Task Force Ranger assault unit, Thomas was an excellent choice to be featured in the tribute to our nation's veterans. You can check out the performance at Thomas' official Web site. I'm assuming he stuck around to see the Philadelphia Phillies trounce the Yankees in a 6-1 win.

Everyone says the Internet is the coolest way to discover new music. You know what else it's good for? Judging new music and playing favorites. Like the way you can when you go online right now and judge the singer-songwriter finalists in CMT.com's Music City Madness contest. First you pick a country singer (Jack Ingram, Jewel, Jimmy Wayne or Justin Moore) and then vote on your top eight from their top 16. I started with Moore and had a hard time choosing because all of his picks were really good. I suppose that's why they need our votes. If you choose to vote in all four star brackets, just know that this is no easy feat. With 64 videos in all, that adds up to about three hours of watching videos to give everyone a fair chance. You can vote now through Nov. 2, and then the winner will be announced Dec. 15. The prize is a trip to Nashville, a private meeting with record label big shots, a meet-and-greet with Reba McEntire and the chance to record a performance for CMT's Studio 330 Sessions.

A total of nine new music videos flooded the CMT New Music Video Evaluation Team this week, as CMT launches its New Music Weekend. Fresh work comes from Sugarland, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Michelle Branch, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Reba, and Billy Currington. So, out of that whole bunch, which one do you watch first? We'll never tell. In no particular order:

Artist: Carrie Underwood
Video: "Cowboy Casanova'"
Director: Theresa Wingert

Carrie Underwood's first single from her upcoming album, Play On, is a lush and brash song and video. The latter finds Carrie wearing a series of elaborate outfits and presiding over a flock of dancing girls in what some viewers see as a dancehall and others interpret as a fancy bordello.

Panelists comments: "Very impressive." "I love those gorgeous outfits." "A very good-looking video."

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This week marks the 17th anniversary of John Michael Montgomery's debut single, "Life's a Dance," and it made me stop and think of all the memories I've had with his music. I can still remember the first two CDs I ever bought with my own money. I belonged to a CD club, and I spent hours trying to figure out exactly which ones I wanted to purchase with my own money. Finally, I settled on Montgomery's self-titled album and Alison Krauss' Now That I Found You: A Collection. Even just last year when I was out with a couple of my friends on Lower Broadway, Montgomery jumped onstage for an impromptu set. Later, I shared with him that his was in fact one of the first CDs I ever bought. Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure if he was flattered by this statement or more confused. Anyway, here are a few of my favorites. I'd love to hear some of yours.

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When I blogged that Carrie Underwood's new video for "Cowboy Casanova" would be premiering next weekend, readers wanted to know if they'd get to see any other new ones. Well, be careful what you wish for, because there are a lot. Starting on Oct. 2, it is literally CMT's Big New Music Weekend. So you can see them on TV and on CMT.com. But since I work in Chicago and not in the Nashville office, I haven't had the honoring of seeing any of them. Still, I have some theories about what they'll look like based on what they sound like. But I'd love to know what you think will transpire in these videos. Take your best guess, then come Oct. 5 we'll check back here and see who had the best vision for Tim McGraw's "Southern Voice," Kenny Chesney's "I'm Alive," Keith Urban's "Hit the Ground Runnin'," Sugarland's "Keep You," Reba's "Consider Me Gone," Miranda Lambert's "White Liar" and more.

Looking to stock up on artist memorabilia? This Web site for the Clothes Off Our Back Foundation is the place. There are all kinds of tickets, passes, autographed CDs and posters and so on. But what I love the most is when artists donate their own clothes. So Alan Jackson's given up his Wranglers, Keith Anderson has taken off his "Bigger Is Better" T-shirt, Reba McEntire has donated a skirt and Keith Urban has turned over his R.M. Williams jeans (those seem to be the Australian Wranglers, although they are certainly on the high end with a retail price tag right around $125 in Australian dollars). The money raised in this auction will go to Porter's Call, a Tennessee organization that offers free counseling, support and encouragement to recording artists and their families. Bid now because the auction ends Sept. 30.

Good morning, class. Here's the second volume of my '80s country playlist. I like a lot of Kenny Rogers' own singles from this era, as well as Dolly Parton's, but I still get a big kick out of this duet. ("From one lover to another, uh-huh!") And good luck getting "Houuuuuuston" out of your head today.

"Islands in the Stream," Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
"Houston (Means I'm One Day Closer to You)," Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers
"Quittin' Time," Mary Chapin Carpenter
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Terri Clark has finally made the record I knew she had in her all along. It's called The Long Way Home and I feel like she's finally fully embraced her songwriting. If you've been following her for the last 14 years, you've seen that talent surface occasionally (especially on the Fearless album), but never to this degree. I'm so pleased, too. I've always appreciated Clark's traditional approach and her reverence for the country music she grew up on (the Judds, Reba McEntire, Ricky Skaggs). Now that I've been playing this album for a few weeks now, I've realized just how much I've missed having her around and how she's continuing the musical thread of her heroes.

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