Snow-Stuck In Georgia!

First week of 2017 and Winter slid into Music Row for the weekend. The Deep South plunged into the deep freeze as the thoughts of Country cruises and parties in Mexico on tap for some later in the month. For now ... reality and that means a dose of Winter!

The big headline for the first week is the Blake Shelton big bar deal. The Ryman Hospitality folks booked this news conference many days ago ... were coy about what it was about. A big investment in downtown Nashville again ... The sister to the Wild Horse ... Ole Red.

By now you have seen the story ... $20 million was the figure thrown out. First class, but I wouldn't have expected anything else. Lower Broadway will now be a premiere entertainment street like Bourbon once was and Las Vegas Blvd remains. It will have a focus of Country unlike Austin's Sixth Street made up of many small to medium-size venues. The Nashville bars coming up will be more like something out of the Disney playbook. Big and bold and new. Tourist and not local-oriented. Locals might come down by Uber but the parking is high and sparse.

Country music has been singing about booze but now will have more than enough places to sing and get paid. Some big time shows will be on those Nashville stages in the coming years. Dierks has a venue opening. John Rich ... Alan Jackson ... that stretch from the Acme/Hard Rock by the Cumberland River up five blocks to the Bridgestone Arena ... and two blocks north for several spots and 3 South to the CMHOF and The Ascend Amphitheater. The Symphony Hall in between. And The Ryman right behind Tootsie's. A Country music playing and drinking Disneyland.

The story NO ONE is writing about ... The lack of Country music participation in the Trump Inaugural. The A-Listers silent. Fear of reprisals? That is what you hear.

'60s Southern pop star Tommy Roe speaking about his participation in the Nixon inaugural. Roe says he lost record deals and was shunned. With that real possibility in mind, can you blame them?

If you look at the election red/blue state maps ... The Red states and Country music sure seem to be a match, but show business and politics were one during this election. Will this situation change or be the same for four years?

2017 promises to be an amazing year ... as I write this a mass shooting at the Fort Lauderdale airport. Was anything ever done about concert security or was that just a lot of talk?