Hollywood And Nashville, We Have A Problem

Some things you just don’t understand, like 20 seasons of “The Voice” and not one breakout act! How is that possible considering the nationwide exposure, the star power pushes and the ratings numbers for the actual show?

Early on there was a little movement, but nothing even close to “American Idol” stars like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson, just to name three.

“Voice” winner Jake Hoot is a lovable personality, and Clarkson is pushing as hard as she can to get him a hit. Somebody is road blocking this. Is it that he doesn’t look like the hipster Country singers one major media player is always pushing?

Is he too old? That can’t be it, he’s 32. Could it be he’s not East Nashville cool enough, as if the Pop leaning would know Little Jimmy from Lil Wayne as singers are marched in?

Face it: Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs are the hottest singers in the format. One has been banned for poor social behavior. They are both Southern Country boys, nothing city slick about them.

You just get this feeling right now that pickup trucks and beer might have been replaced by Range Rovers and Cabernet Franc 2019 (best served chilled).

Someone once said if you want to know who your audience is, look and see what they drove to the show in. Hard to do the last year, but probably a first thing to do at these upcoming shows.

Some folks around Music Row are too rich and too isolated from the audience they used to serve. They are aiming for the electric car crowd. That’s fine, but George Strait’s RodeoHouston announcement got more vibe this week than most things I’ve seen. Alan Jackson also rocked the foundation this week with a tornado benefit concert announcement. (I’m shocked some of the hipsters in the Country music press reported on it.) Country music is dead, and is not coming back. Someone needs to save it!

What needs fixing? Not the audience, not the singers but the Range Rover/Porsche-driving leaders in all sections who are pushing away from ball caps and pickups. They don’t know those people, talk to those people or eat barbecue with those people. What we have here is failure to communicate!

The Blake Sheltons, Luke Combs, Alan Jacksons, Dolly Partons, George Straits, Jon Pardis and Cody Johnsons are holding the flight steady and level. The Bro Country gang is hit and miss. But it’s like Charlie Daniels when he broke into Country, or Jerry Reed or even Marty Robbins. They shook the place up. The slick Nashville Sound shook the place up. Change is great, and necessary. Politics and “woke” are way too up front in the Country music Tesla right now.

Sell Country music to everybody! Stay out of woke and politics, right and left. Sing and play to everybody. Stop swinging for left field or right field. I think you will find people are sick of politics and woke.

Country Charley Pride was the best of the best. Country will win this push for more faces of color. It should have happened decades ago. The girl/boy singers ratio is always changing, has always changed, and never seemed to be 50/50. The famous women of Country may be actually more famous/memorable than their male counterparts overall. It did get out of whack thanks to consultants being stupid.

Country is about the sound, the message, the instruments. This insane idea that beer/drinking/booze has to be in everything? JUST SAY NO! We need songwriter diversity maybe most of all! And probably need a corporate music reality check too, another group that doesn’t check cars in the parking lot!

Look at the entire pie and tell me that everything is great. Tell me it’s terrible. Neither is correct. Tickets are overpriced for some things, and greed is all around. A few in Music City are looking for a one-time money grab and not the return consumer. Just check the prices at our current tourist sites.

Don’t kill the Country music Golden Goose.

Alan was right when he said, “Country music is gone, and it’s not coming back” in a recent interview. Someone say something. Let’s figure it out.