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The Cliques... The Politics ... The Dark Side of Music City
February 12, 2010
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Jimmy Carter in his homebase Nashville.
Just attended a very depressing award ceremony ... a time normally for celebration. Never been to anything quite like this --The Musician's Hall of Fame inductions ... a place soon to be destroyed by a wrecking ball! A victim of Nashville city government's: Eminent Domain, the law by which the government can appropriate private property.
The city steamrolled in a new convention center without letting the public vote. It remains quite controversial. A victim in this ... the little Musician's Hall of Fame. What a coooool place! Taking their place and not paying them a replacement cost ... a real screw job.
The Hall honors all those great musicians who played on your favorite records, from the Detroit Funk Brothers to the Hollywood A team to the Tennessee Two and all the great Nashville studio pickers. Joe Chambers built it and it's a music lover's fantasy, much like the Grammy or Rock Halls are. It's more than just Country ... much more.
The Country Music Hall of Fame has never really tried to help the place, nor have they tried to hurt it. It would have helped them both to play well together to get more eyeballs. Leadership from the city? None that I can find. It's just awful. Met Dick Dale through this ... a lot of the Funk Brothers, Duane Eddy, Reggie Young, Bobby Wood, Hal Blaine. It's a crime what has happened. A big political mess...
Watching the pop media pick at Taylor Swift is equally sad ... piling on post-Grammy. She puts herself out there and lately she has gotten criticism from singing to feeding wild possums in Australia. They did it to Rimes, Spears, Lohan, name one. Pitiful. And wrong.
"We are the World was pretty Country-less this time ... pretty Latin-less, too. Too much rap ... okay version, not nearly as magical as the first.
Why is Tanya Tucker judging a drag queen contest on Logo? I guess why not (rolling eyes)...
Shania is in the Caribbean, writing ... still no sign of any music coming ...The Court Yard, we-are-sort-of-the-Dixie Chicks, Hounds working on new music and hoping for their audience to return.
The cliques in Nashville are legendary ... from the "who gets to write" to "who gets to play"... in the inside people and the outs...The artists who get along, such as Vince Gill, to the ones who don't, such as Toby Keith. Carrie came in as an outsider, but seems to be impressing the powers-that-be. She should do great at the ACMs this year.
Gretchen and the music mafia in and out ... depending on the day. She got the NBA All-Star game ... huge get for the TV, but not sure that's her audience...
Congrats to new dad Justine Moore ... baby girl born Thursday, Feb 11th around noon ... all good.
Olympics are underway ... Lady A on "Today" at some point ... not a real Country event. See where Garth and Trisha's greyhound is in the Westminister Dog Show.
Miranda getting her own tour ...Vince hooking up with Eric this June in Chicago.
I hope something can get worked out on this Musicians Hall of Fame ... such a cool place ... someone help them! Mike Curb? Hall of Fame? Gaylord? Someone .... It's a cool plaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace!
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