Music City’s Own Groundhog Day

One step forward and then another back. It’s like getting stuck in Nashville’s 16th Avenue roundabout where the naked statues visually assault those who dare to go near. (I never understood what naked people had to do with Music Row, music in general or Nashville.)

It’s CMA Awards eve, that three-hour spotlight ABC puts on Country music once a year, as well as the virtual BMI/ASCAP Awards. It’s a time to look in the mirror and see what the last year has been like.

Live music made progress for sure but, as I write, Dan + Shay can’t play this weekend due to a crew person testing positive for Covid. Garth Brooks started then ended his stadium tour. The Rolling Stones hit town and ignored all Covid talk, and even pressed on with the death of their drummer and friend, Charlie Watts.

See the pattern? One step forward then one back. Who is doing the right thing?

The whole Morgan Wallen thing is tiresome. The incident could not be ignored, and he was duly shunned. He’s back on the radio and doing shows. But now it seems to have gone backward. The American Music Awards banned him. Was it an ABC edict or did they think of that statement on their own?

This year, the Country music world was not helped by losing its station in New York City. The reason for the format flip remains cloudy. Madison Avenue ad people are all about optics and what is cool next week, even what is woke. They are wanting new things on digital and social media, whether they are proven to sell or not. Former New York Country station WHN radio struggled years before, and WYNY after that. Remember them? They ultimately failed.

As an institution, Country music has walked a razor blade on what to do and what to say about the life-saving vaccine. Same really on the Morgan Wallen issue. Deer in the headlights, mostly.

The higher gas prices and supply chain issues do affect everyone. The psychology of empty shelves and inflation affects listen moods, concert ticket sales, everything. Maybe even elections recently.

Those ticket prices for the World Series! Some were, like, $7,000 each, even cheap seats at $1,000. Ticket prices for this weekend’s George Strait/Eric Church Atlanta show: Ticketmaster as of November 3rd: $650 on the floor near stage; $400+ side of arena; nosebleed $75 to $100. The optics are bad. The music industry again walks a razor blade on the scalper issue.

If you go by gut and nothing more, does it feel like the audience just can’t wait for the next award show? Did Covid just take that whole concept and flush it? Are Country music consumers watching the networks any more, other than sports?

Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood’s “If I Didn’t Love You” is a great song. Not a good song, is a GREAT song/performance/copyright. It deserves two weeks at #1. Funny how some things just are, and the rest you have to babysit.

Underwood probably deserves the CMA Entertainer of the Year award too. Look at her year and what she has done and is doing: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade featured performer, “Sunday Night Football,” Las Vegas residency, Dove Award winner, duet with John Legend. She’s done it all. Others just sang and did concerts. Carrie has been going a while now, and is still ascending.

And is Kenny Chesney ready to get back to the stage or what? You just felt like this beachcomber was more than ready to hit the stadiums in the late spring 2022.

With that said, where will Garth be? What is the status of that stadium tour?

Taylor Swift at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Jimmie Allen on “Dancing with the Stars” and singing with Elton John, Vince Gill is an Eagle and Alison Krauss is going to Europe with Robert Plant. Nashville stars are all over the road for sure. But what direction are we going? Or are we just cruising around the roundabout mumbling, “What is Country music?”