Nothing Like A Good Plan

Is it me or have you all noticed how many events are already in the books for 2019? Just got one for October of 2019: Dolly Week at the Opry.

Dolly joined the Opry January 4th of 1969, so her 50th Anniversary deserves a week celebration. Agreed!

Think about what's on the calendar for the year ... and not in the exact order: CRS, Garth's first year of all-stadiums tour, George Strait in Atlanta/Columbus/Ft. Worth/Houston and Vegas. The Rolling Stones are coming, Kiss is saying goodbye, Nashville will be over taken by the NFL draft and the CMA Music Festival.

Sidebar: I don't think many understand how big a deal the NFL event is going to be! ABC is covering for the first time in prime time along with ESPN and The NFL Network. Every hotel will be booked and everything in the Honky Tonk District is going to feel it.

Kenny Chesney is playing smaller places because he can, Carrie Underwood will get a new baby and a huge arena tour, The Grammys will honor Dolly at MusicCares, Jan. 9th, the Troy Gentry Foundation show and one to salute Willie comes right after. The Nashville Comedy festival is still growing (April) ... always the CMT and CMA Awards.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Nashville itself is about to pop. Amazon is bringing thousands to the core of downtown. Not one thing has been done about roads and how to deal and move all these people.

2019 is going to be a showdown in some way on the issue of women getting their songs on Country radio. It is or it isn't an issue with everyone but recently with one female voice in the top 25, that was pretty amazing. Both sides have an issue but the story just won't stop coming up with Shania Twain the latest to point things out to national media.

2019 will surely see more of the digital revolution in every way. I did go by a warehouse section in South Nashville the other day. The home of United Record Pressing. The largest record pressing operation in North America. With all this digital, they are making 60,000 records per day! Vinyl! So if you can predict the future with any accuracy, go to Vegas!

The live music business is clearly where the money is going to be made for most. Festivals booked names that everyone knows and booked them early ... example: in April 2019 Country Thunder in Arizona: Brett Eldredge, Tim McGraw, Dierks, Chris Stapleton. And they booked baby acts like Brandon Lay and Abby Anderson.

Stagecoach in April: Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean and Sam Hunt headline. So many faces and sounds vying for attention and tour money.

The supply will hopefully not overwhelm the demand. The downtown honky tonks have hopefully all have a plan to keep getting those tourists to visit an evermore expensive town to operate in. Finding staff for everything in Music City is tight. 10 bucks an hour won't get you far in Nashville these days.

Fascinating times at this pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. 2019 competition for the dollar means planting that flag early.

Again, never seen so much locked down this far in advance -- in ink, not pencil. Please fasten your seatbelts!