Hey Baby, Let's Go to Vegas!

2016 is 75% done ... 90 days and out. The last 90 are often the best 90 of the year. The Fall with football and the beautiful leaves. The World Series and this year the 50th CMA Awards.

The Grammy qualification period for the 2017 awards is done as of September 30th. Maren Morris and Eric Church seem to be the early front runners for big multiple nominations.

The CMA election is underway with the best race the Entertainer of the Year. Four of the five should be in the race. It is a label-driven campaign. My vote this year would go with Carrie Underwood. She's never won and just look at her show and tell me she is not a multi-threat entertainer from the school of Barbara and Reba. She's due!

Maren Morris has started her career with a bang. Maybe this is the ladies' year. Not to be just politically correct ... they have done some great work.

Country music and Las Vegas ... Huge festival this weekend. Route 91 across the street from the Luxor. Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Luke Bryan, Martina McBride, Little Big Town, Chris Young and Dustin Lynch ... and a ton of baby acts...

The rock Desert Trip ... Rock for the old folks is next weekend October 7th-8th-9th and again October 14th-15th-16th ... Gross of $160 million? All the mega-stars getting bigger-than-usual paychecks ... Stones, Dylan, McCartney, The Who, Roger Waters, Neil Young ... tickets are out there for you last-minute folks ... Nice: Every portable flush toilet west of the Mississippi has been rented for this show ... No crappy porta-potties for these high rollers.

Back to Vegas ... Go to Vegas.com at look at the talent lineup between now and New Year's Eve ... A bunch of Country and classic rockers. From Wayne Newton to Richie and Reba. Even Jerry Lewis at 90 and too many others ... Vegas is a cooking spot and not just catering to the super-young or old ... quite diverse ... and a good bit as usual of Country.

See where they are moving the Bayou Country Superfest to the Superdome in New Orleans? Construction at LSU Stadium.

Brad Paisley played a huge outdoor show at the Air Force Academy in Colorado this week. What a setting on the drill field with the Rockies in the sunset ... His College Nation tour will be at UCLA in October. Not sure anyone Country as played those locations ... on campus ... Spreading the word about Country music...

I will not name names here, but spot-listened to a few big-name artists' albums. I'm not sure how some of this stuff can be labeled "Country" using any known description. It's one thing to push the envelope and another that's just doesn't fit near Kanye or George Strait. It's got a great beat and they can dance to it ... Dick Clark. we miss you!

Keith Urban with 37 consecutive top-10 singles is impressive ... He's down under this weekend playing to 100,000 at a rugby game.

Beyonce playing Nashville's NFL Stadium in a make-good concert Sunday the 2nd. May be one of the biggest show to ever play in Music City ... The set is The Rolling Stones size and then some! I'm sure some "Country" artists will be there taking notes.

Kenny Chesney getting a big award from BMI that is well deserved! Fall is a great time of the year ... The first cool days came through as September moved out.

I do not like the new iPhone seven homes button. This phone is taking some getting used to ... but the camera and the speakers are a big upgrade ... It using power with all the gizmos operating. The headphone jack ... I guess that is progress ... but the home button ... takes a lot of getting used to...