Every Week Tops The Week Before

Just as we thought Nashville was turning the corner past the Coronavirus, tornados, power failures, etc. the Metro Courthouse was set on fire and 32 downtown business storefronts were smashed during protests on May 30th. This year has to be the most unpredictable in Nashville’s long history. Even the Civil War was more predictable than 2020.

But despite all the negative, the news was good on several counts this week.

You can feel the concert business showing a little life on the small venue scale. The superstars will stay parked for now, but many others are going out and will try to make a buck. Alan Jackson’s drive up shows in Alabama sold out of the 2,000 available car slots at 99 bucks a ticket. The tropical weather has postponed the shows by a week, but it’s looking good.

The UV virus killing light seems to be getting traction. Everyone will get their temperature taken, masks will be mandatory, and crowd control will be supervised.

In Hollywood, the unions/guilds are not happy with the talk of reducing crew size. Not everyone is coming back to work in Hollywood and it’s the same everywhere else. The work at home thing is a social revolution that might not be able to stop. Look for writer virtual rooms in Hollywood and elsewhere.

The NBA is back in late July. It’s slow, but moving in a forward march. It’s going to still be a while before you see Nashville and other cities allow musical spaces to operate on any scale.

It’s just been a crazy year. Country music superfan Sean Hannity got divorced, and Johnny Majors and Pat Dye passed away. It’s a lot to soak in.

Ever had a summer with nothing on the schedule? As a kid there was camp. In 2020, nothing is on the books. That is very disturbing. No movies, concerts or air travel. This has to change. Happy to see some Nashville artists trying to find a way to get back in the game.

This week has just been an overload. Glad Amy Grant’s heart surgery went well. The Charlie Daniels “Geechi Geechi Ya Ya Blues - Quarantine Edition” song on YouTube made me smile. Tommy Roe has redone “Dizzy.” The Gatlins and even Terry Bradshaw have done a version of “On The Road Again.” YouTube is a great place to get lost in times like these. Carrie Underwood had a virtual fan club party since the yearly real one couldn’t be held with CMA Fest canceled. She’s going to have a Christmas album out this year.

We should be having the CMA Fest this week. Downtown would have been turned over to the fans. But not this year!