CMA Week ... Hope It Works!

Lot's of dice rolling on Music Row this week. Bragging rights. Sales bumps. Careers are made and, at times, hurt.

What???????????

Live TV is always dangerous.

Will the sound be good or, as more often than not, stink? Will Carrie, Taylor and Rascal Flatts be the chosen ones? Will Josh Turner jump to the next level as predicted? Will the minor labels beat the block votes?

Seen People magazine with Keith on the cover? Really glad he's doing better and hope he stays well. Sad story how addiction can take your life and throw it upside down!

Chesney grossed $75 million in 2007. That is a lot of money and he earned every bit of it. Sweating through one song at a time!

The death of Porter was very sad. The funeral service at the Opry House was sweet and traditional. He was a complicated guy. The more I studied and read about him this week, the more I liked him. What a great American success story.

Waylon Jennings once said Porter Wagoner couldn't go pop with a mouth full of firecrackers. His singing style was more Hank Williams than Rascal Flatts; for sure he was traditional yet he was also unpredictable.

Porter was the Opry's master showman. His trademark rhinestone suits were as famous as his songs. He was a producer, at times an actor, a singer and a pioneer in country music television. "The Porter Wagoner Show" was on TV for 21 years -- and began right here at channel 4 .

Porter was a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, The Grand Old Opry and a four-time Grammy winner for his gospel work, yet this long-time ambassador of country music is still most famous for introducing the world to a young East Tennessee girl. Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner for a time WERE country music.

Porter Wayne Wagoner of West Plains ,Missouri ... for nearly 60 years a country music icon. The thin man from West Plains was a natural who made his audience feel special just by being himself...

Porter simply ran out of time. There was so much for the young stars to learn from him. A few, like Dierks, did.

Porter was a link to the past. There are a few more left. It's why the Hall of Fame not getting special attention from the CMA show is almost criminal.

What is the present without the perspective you get from the past? Yes, at the struggling labels it's all about holiday sales right now to save their jobs.

You have to wonder how much better things might be if you creatively linked the past and the present instead of either/or. The TV audience would surely be bigger. Having Kid Rock on the CMAs and not having Garth Brooks may be the dumbest thing I've heard the braintrust do yet!