Imagine: Superstar Artist Without A Format

The calendars are filling up with Fall music events as Music City crams so much into the next eight weeks. Nashville usually closes its doors in mid-December. Business after Thanksgiving is looking mostly into next year. So it's full blast now as final CMA ballots are in play and Grammy nominations are getting closer.

The 50th CMA will be the headliner but so much before that. Garth has chosen the Fall of 2016 to put out a new single, new repackaged catalogue and a Christmas duets album with Trisha. Garth is on Frito bags and CBS SEC Football. His new song is uptempo and should get him back in the groove. "Baby, Let's Lay Down and Dance" got a big launch day on iHeart stations and many others. A free show to thank fans at The Ascend Amphitheatre October 24th, then Garth and band go into the Musicians Hall of Fame October 26th. That is just a peek at the whole calendar.

Luke is wrapping up the Farm Tour that features his injured, repaired clavicle. The clean break fixed with six screws and a truss. His CMA night may be another good one.

The CMA show is coming together. As the writers comb the files from old CMA shows, the John Denver archives will appear. It was 17 years ago this week Denver died in an experimental plane crash. The CMA Song of the Year in 1975 was "Back Home Again." Denver won Entertainer of the Year, too. With some controversy. I would think the CMA 2016 show will show the famous Charlie Rich flaming winners envelope. But radio's relationship is very strange.

John Denver is somewhat an artist without a format. Classic Country stations place his stuff with Roy Acuff and old Bill Monroe songs. Denver's musical successes were huge. The Greatest Hits sold nine million copies alone. Oldies stations don't really play much and modern Country stations think anything older that 2010 is ancient.

John Denver was a Superstar. He was too Pop for Country and too Country for Pop. Someday a smart producer will give him the Eagles, Lionel Richie treatment and do a proper duets, tribute album. Some great songs in his catalogue.

The star of Cole Swindell continues to rise ... Just one of several new guys solidifying their place.

What verdict will the CMA Awards present this year? Another Stapleton shocker year or what? Are the Bros in or out? Or will we say a split verdict? I say split verdict.

The unspoken story this week is the Meghan Linsey sexual assault allegations. A powerful man and a sexual assault. She was urged not to tell by her people and six years later she's not naming names. Her label checking internally and the rest just buzzing about the whole situation. The end of it or just the beginning?

Brad Paisley put out a good song last week called "Today." With the song release an accompanying video.

You can't create a viral video. It either is or isn't. This was ... One week after release the count was 22 million views on Facebook. That is a huge number. Has anyone had a Country video with 22 million views in a week? Radio did what radio does in 2016. Caution. Would The Beatles have broken out the way they did today? No way. Country radio finds a new song and if they like it, it is buried in overnight then worked into the mix. Garth has a new song out this week ... Got heavy play day one, then let's see what happens. What happened to new music exciting people? New music a draw for listeners?

We live in a faster-than-a-bullet world. Viral videos, flash mobs, Live TV, mobile everything. Is radio keeping up with all this?