$25.00 = Record Breaker

... reporting to you from NYC.

So the CMA has come to NYC. It's a trip for the CMA that, frankly, I have dreaded. I see the logic of going, and I also know that this is an expensive boondoggle for all these expense account/percent of someone else's paycheck people.

Will the CMA's get more attention? Maybe. Will it be more exciting? Maybe. Will more people go out and buy mediocre CD's because the show was in New York? Probably not.

As we get into the meat of the CMA/NYC week, maybe the city will turn on its ear with a city-owned, non-rated radio station going Country for a few days. Maybe the strap hanging masses will discover something Country and their lives will be changed forever. Hey, maybe The Opry will be asked to stay at Carnegie Hall for the rest of history.

I do think any extra attention for any music is good, but, at the end of the day, this should not have happened. The Oscars should never leave Hollywood and the CMA's shouldn't leave Nashville. Manhattan and Country music is an oddity, just like the naked cowboy. Nothing more. Nothing less.

I love NY. I love the food. I love the style and pace. I love Broadway. These things and Country music just don't mix. Oil and water. Still, Country people can like NY and New York can like Country. Let's hope this trip bridges and educates so many of these "Yankees" who still think Country music is all cowboy hats and hay bales.

Garth is among these hillbillies coming to town, and this guy just may put the music industry on its ear ... again. With this "limited series" box set at Wal-Mart for $25 bucks, they are going to sell A LOT of music and the ripple effect may just help the others, just like it did last decade. Garth cooled off, but this just might reheat or, better yet, microwave him back into gear. Counting each box set as 6 CD's sold ... do the math. One million sold in first week equals 6 million/6 times platinum. Whoa.

Garth is amazingly sly. Watch this work. He is King Midas. I bet he still has the touch.

More after the CMA's ...

Oh, go get that People magazine with Chesney on the cover. He seems a bit tired of all the break up and gay talk. Very tired. Three times on the cover in a year. That is amazing.

CMA picks are very hard this year. Urban male vocalist? Chesney for entertainer. Martina for female? Sugarland maybe for the horizon. B&D Duo, Rascal Flatts for group. Joan Rivers for most obnoxious in advance.