Love At First Listen

Try to remember you first exposure to music. You heard a special song and wanted to hear it again and again. When you get older that happens a little less. For radio people with music burnout from time to time, it's even more rare.

But Thomas Rhett's new song, "Beer Can't Fix," blew a fuse in my auditory system. How a Country radio station could resist this song is beyond me. It hits every note you would ever want. Wow, it even got great reaction from a retired Army General. I'll tell that story later.

The year 2020 is just a few weeks old as I write, and the year's cards are falling into place. RodeoHouston is a huge late Winter party in Space City. Midland will open the March 3rd event and Luke Bryan will close on March 22nd. The NRG Stadium rodeo is Texas size! Brad Paisley will play it for the 14th time. And Willie Nelson should be a safe bet on Wednesday March 4.

You need to be able to put big numbers in those seats. Gwen Stefani got a night on Tuesday March 17. The millions spent come right back in ticket sales, and buying talent for that many nights in a more and more diverse city is tricky. I just spent a week in Houston. Great food and a huge rodeo. And it's for charity!

This year marks the official host change year for the CMA Awards. Hiding between Christmas and New Years came the Carrie Underwood announcement that she would no longer be hosting. She's stepping aside. It's what the bosses wanted in 2019 and had to compromise. The guard will change in November. It won't happen, but Brad and Carrie ought to take their act to the ACM Awards.

There have also been some recent tour announcements, Lady A and Zac Brown Band to name two. Zac Brown has a few huge stadium shows on their schedule: Citi Field in New York City, Wrigley Field in Chicago, and the Braves home in Atlanta, SunTrust Park.

Billboard magazine's crystal ball readers say Lizzo will be the big Grammy winner and Tanya Tucker will win Country Album of the Year. Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani are performing. It all happens January 26th at L.A.'s Staples Center.