Friends In High Places!

If you ever need one of the A-list stars of Country music, look no farther than the city's private aviation hangars -- or FBOs, as they are called.

Country stars -- like pro golfers, rock stars and industry big shots -- aren't much for mingling with the masses at the main airport terminal. They did that on the way up. Now they fly private. A few Country stars own their own jets and a few even know how to fly them.

No need to reveal their names; you all know who they are and we Frequent Flyers are happy for them and jealous.

The dangers of flight are quite evident in the music world as so many victims of plane crashes in the last few decades were singers. From Otis Redding and Reba's band to Buddy Holly and Jim Reeves. Flying has taken far more lives than driving in the history of Country music.

All the above is the set-up for the cold chills everyone got this week when the bulletin crossed that race legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. had been involved in a fiery jet crash at a Tennessee airport. We all held our breath waiting for good news. It was a miracle. The plane ran off the end of the runway and caught fire. Junior, his wife and one-year-old, the family dog and the two pilots ... everyone walked away. If you saw the plane-on-fire pictures, you saw what the story could have been.

Travel has always been the worst part of the tour grind. The plane give back stars something they can't buy: Time.

They prevent divorces ... give back some energy and cost an arm and a leg. But once you get in (Garth a late entry into the jet league), you never go back to crossing the country on a tour bus.

The new season of The Voice will be, for better or worse, the Gwen and Blake Show. (Blake sure does his share of private aviation).

The heat ... fast-moving storms. This time of year, those outdoor stages can be tough. Soundcheck at 100-plus degrees. Little Big Town playing in the Alabama heat as Brad Paisley plays in the Florida humidity. The road can be physically tough this time of year. Sometimes Country singer Kiefer Sutherland fell down his tour bus stairs and jammed his ribs. Hard to breath and impossible to sing; he's now off the road.

The CMA host announcement should be coming any day. The nominations around Labor Day. Award shows are in upside-down mode. Ratings are off and maybe even the events themselves seem out of style. Oscars and Emmys are now host-less.

Can the light speed-streaming audience of 2019 have the patience anymore for a trophy show? Three hours' worth?

The end seems closer than the beginning.