Some Unforgettable Nights...

A short and to-the-point column this week ... Inspired by a few days on the road where the sun rarely sets and every picture looks like a postcard...

Vince Gill said this week, "This is what dreams are made of right here" ... Vince was on stage helping to induct Country's hottest star of the moment into the Grand Ole Opry. Luke Combs is now an Opry star, too.

For the lucky fans in the audience, it was one of those only-in-Nashville kind of moments that can be very special. There is no other regular gathering of musicians like this anywhere.

The WSM AM 650 Radio Show, which is so much more, is a moving Country history book. It is a unique part of American culture and listening to this show on the radio is one of the great broadcasts still great many decades after it was born.

The other night far from the AM signal and too early for the nighttime skip, I dialed up the Opry app ... It came up fast and clear ... So cool driving down the road listening to the Opry in high fidelity. It should be a lesson that so many radio operators don't get. Put on a show ... Others do the jukebox better than you ever will. Give them a show that's live and there is some reason to listen. Afraid you might miss something....

When is the last time you got something to remember on a local radio station? If it's a day, that's too long. But it's not too late. But much damage has been done.

Luke Combs seems like an everyman right now and the audience feels that. He's breaking records and tying chart weeks with the legends. His success might be signaling a hunger for real ... and not Barbie dolls and drug store cowboys.

Garth this week cooked up a made-for-media Dive Bar night in Chicago. He gave a few hundred fans a night they will never forget.

Seeing Garth and his band -- minus the backup singers -- fired it up like they were in a stadium. Intimacy, unique. One of a kind. These type of shows are so cool. And can be done really on a star's whim, like Blake Shelton has done this year a few times...

And so smart in the marketing world ... You don't have to be a Procter or a Gamble to think outside the box. The bar is pretty low these days. Get out a make some memories for the customers.

I just came off a trip to the NW and Alaska. I saw things I will never forget. Go out and do something you will never forget. It's so good for the soul.

Luke Combs and Garth Brooks are riding the wave. Watch and learn.