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I recently witnessed the best country music show of the year so far- Keith Urban & Carrie Underwood.  Yes I know, they are not artists I work directly with, but I’m in this business because I love music and will give it recognition whenever it is good or when an artist does the right things.  I may also let you know when I feel like a song is doing nothing but taking up valuable space; but I’m not here to talk about the Garth & Huey Lewis single today.

Anyway, if you have seen a show with Keith Urban lately and you don’t vote for him as Entertainer of the Year, you are on crack!  I’ve seen him as part of The Ranch and then a few times after going solo.  He has always put on a solid show and is a great guy to hang with, but after the show I just experienced I can testify he is hands down the most charismatic and exciting performer in the country format.  From his backstage visits with fans and radio, to the inventive production and the powerful show, it was done first class.  He gets it!  Carrie Underwood opened and she certainly is a star and a nice fit for Urban.  A complete home run for the guys and the gals.

Between sets a talented DJ was spinning and mixing music from all genres and all generations.  I was impressed how the entire evening was very relevant to the crowd and you could feel the exciting buzz of the house from start to finish. 

I am fortunate to be working with Emerson Drive, Whiskey Falls and Adam Gregory because I really do believe they are phenomenal artists, but if all I did was write and talk about my own artists then I would be doing a disservice to you and to myself. We are all in this together and I’m not simply an outlet for company talking points.  My mission is much bigger than that.

Did anyone catch the first episode of CMT’s new reality program “Gone Country” on Sunday evening?  I happened on it by accident and I don’t usually watch much of CMT, because the channel typically has nothing to do with music anymore.  Same for MTV.  And many reality shows are junk.

I was engaged by the concept and ended up watching the entire hour, half of which was terrible advertising (that will be blog rant later, trust me).  I like that the show has welcomed individuals of diverse musical styles and cultural backgrounds.  On the other hand, this show could end up being a train wreck.  Either way, entertaining.

There are a few good things going on here:  John Rich is a pretty decent host, Nashville is being shown off in a good light (so far), and the audience is being introduced to some heavyweight Music Row songwriters.  There are also a couple of not so good things going on:  Another contrived reality show and the messages it sends about the current state of the country music format.  It will be interesting to see where the show goes and how the industry will react, if at all.  I don’t know if I will plan to watch every episode, but I’m intrigued by it.

Check it out or Tivo it (so you can miss the barrage of ads).  CMT is actually doing a show with music, so that in itself is worthwhile.  But do yourself a favor and please stay away from the ridiculous “My Redneck Wedding” that follows.  That does none of us any good.