Thank You, Alan Jackson

This week, Alan Jackson and his team announced a plan to get people back on the road, or at least get Alan on the road.

Utilizing a social distancing/Coronavirus rules concert plan, Jackson’s two “Small Town Drive-In” concerts in Alabama on June 5th and 6th will utilize multiple video screens with a stage and regular sound in a field where 2,000 vehicles will park. His team used some old field show plans mixed with today’s social distancing requirements. There will be advance ticketing/scanning at the venues with no touching, and fans are required to stay in their vehicles. There are bathrooms, as well as concession delivery to cars, but no wandering around. Lots of details, but it sounds do-able. Not a drive in movie approach, but some of the same ideas and style of that. Tickets are 99 bucks for two people in a vehicle, and $39 for additional people.

It has more than $200,000 gross potential. Even with the addition of Pepsi and some local sponsors, the money is lighter than an A-list artist usually gets. More like 1980 grosses, but we are in different times.

You can bet the industry is watching! Rolling Stone covered the story announcement. It is a “can’t wait to see how this goes” kind of deal. The shows are in Cullman, AL (6/5) and Fairhope, AL (6/6).

Can everyone making a living in the music business really wait another 12 months to get back in business? I’m not sure the staff is needed or even that the companies will exist as they do today.

The big theme parks are planning to reopen in the next six weeks. Disney will require masks. Las Vegas casinos will come back in early June, with lots of rules and capacity changes for both.

Getting people back in theaters, amphitheaters and stadiums will be the tricky ones. Garth Brooks still plans to play two stadiums this year, Charlotte and Las Vegas. The NFL plays in both, and the NFL is working harder than anyone to get back on the field. It’s all to be determined.

The Glen Campbell book by his widow, Kim, is about to come out. His talent was huge, and so was his problem with substances. She was a real trouper for standing by him the whole ride, good and bad. I only saw the good Glen, and he was a total pro to work with, produce or just hang around. Glad I never saw the bad one.

This book also sounds very interesting, “Behind the Boards: Nashville” by Jake Brown, a 600-pager with 30 of Nashville’s mostly unsung heroes talking about their work. The record producer is as far in the shadows as you can get.

What would the Beatles have been -- or would they have been -- without George Martin? Same for the folks interviewed in this book. Go Google the Jimmy Bowen book, “Rough Mix,” for additional summer reading. And maybe a third, Martin’s “All You Need is Ears.”

Finally, condolences to T.J. Martell Foundation CEO Laura Heatherly, who lost her sister, Leslie Baker, this week. Baker was murdered while sitting in her car, in her own driveway in North Dallas. Arrests have been made and details of the story are still to come, but it looks like a messed up carjacking and/or robbery.