Automate! People Are A Pain In The Butt!

Jimmy Carter in his homebase Nashville.

That has to be what the ham-handed handlers at NBC must be saying. The Bad News Bears on TV can not do anything right when it comes to high-profile talent handling.

NBC screwed up with Letterman ... Carson ... Conan ... Leno times two. Anne Curry at Today they really blew that one.

The change of Leno to Fallon was promised to be seamless. Pitifully executed again. But how poor NBC ... the guys in charge of this MUST have a radio background. Nobody handles people issues worse than radio folks. Any of you who have spent more than 10 minutes in the business know that first-hand.

Record people stink at it, too. Just watch how folks are dropped from label deals. That is usually discrete at least. Divorce is always bad, even in the best of situations. Just insane to be watching history repeat itself again with Leno/Fallon.

The weather has people cranky in much of the U.S. and Canada. Spring has not sprung! It's almost ACM time in Vegas and that seems to be coming together for that hard working bunch. Everyone in the artist department is going to be there in one way or another. Should be a big kickoff for the Spring and Summer. Plenty of new songs and projects coming out. The Paisley CD will be the one folks are going to talk about. It is rich and full of substance. All the emotions displayed on that one. Can't wait until everyone heard LL Cool J's contribution. Too many to list here. It is a ride! Brad shot a music video for the current release in Santa Monica this week.

Blake Shelton rides back into Hollywood to save the day for NBC again. NBC is a damsel in distress and look for "The Voice" to be their only source of oxygen. NBC will be the "Voice" network through the May ratings period.

Blake pulling off some surprise club shows is a great thing ... Fans love stuff like that. Blake seems to have his finger firmly on the pulse right now.

Opry star Jack Greene was a wonderful man. Got Alzheimer's a few years ago and we all rode with him in his journey. The same one Glen Campbell is taking right now. Very sad. "Statue of a Fool" is a hard song to beat.

Chesney did his job in Tampa. He partied until they couldn't party anymore ... 47,000-plus and I'm told it felt like twice that. Kenny has the formula down and added to the mix with wild man Eric Church. Eric's picture is in the dictionary under the definition of LOUDDDDD. He is heavy metal loud and he likes it that way.

The sandbar at Chesney shows is for the world-class partygoer. Not for the rookie. With Eric in the mix and parking lots opening at 10a, you couldn't find more drunks per-square-inch anywhere even on Bourbon Street! $100 dollar parking? That's crazy on a lot of levels.

Give me the massive calm of 80,000 in Reliant Stadium for George Strait. RodeoHouston sold 2.5 million tickets this year. Wow ... wow. Jake Owen, Blake both playing to 70 to 75 thousand ... impressive!

Jake Owen plans to go headliner next year. That sounds about right.

The Stones about ready to announce their two-month tour.

Where are we getting all this money for concert tickets this year?