<p>I love country music. So many great songs this year.</p>
<p>I am. I don’t love all of country music but enough to watch. I like Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. They are cute.</p>
<p>Yeah, they should be all-time hosts. Good chemistry.</p>
<p>Glad Miranda Lambert won and that Lady Antebellum didn’t take everything. Though I love “Need You Now.”</p>
<p>did they have to pre-empt “Modern Family” though? they couldn’t do this on a night of “Dancing with the Stars”…?</p>
<p>Or Friday night? I do love the ABC Wednesday night lineup.</p>
<p>D was at the country awards this summer, and she is bummed that she didn’t get to go to the CMA’s. She was never a country fan until she got to Nashville & began to intern in the music business. She has so much respect for the people in this industry … Nashville is really a close-knit music industry, and she loves it. She has a radio show that showcases Nashville acts, and they are not country, but she really does like many of the newer country artists. I have grown to appreciate them through her, and I am truly enjoying the CMA’s. It’s so nice to hear music that has a melody (as opposed to a beat …).</p>
<p>But I do miss The Middle and Modern Family. :)</p>
<p>My son’s violin teacher just sent us an email that she’ll be playing on them with Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Smith. Glad y’all reminded me to watch!</p>
<p>Hope you tuned in in time to watch Kelly Clarkson. She was very good (as were the back up musicians!).</p>
<p>Gotta love the Kid … he lives a few miles from me, but he sure fits in well with Nashville.</p>
<p>Dang, I wish I’d known to look for mathmom’s brush wtih greatness!</p>
<p>LOL, yep just caught it. Caught a glimpse of his teacher in both numbers, though it’s pretty hard to tell who is who in the dark! I listened to a lot of country music the year I drove around the country (1979), but haven’t listened as much lately. I really like the more bluegrass tinged stuff like Dierks Bentley.</p>
<p>I think this is a new direction for his teacher. Last time I heard her she was playing a really modern piece with the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra. But she’s pretty versatile - she often plays with her husband who plays classical guitar and she has a folk rock album.</p>
<p>I love the CMAs. Brad and Carrie are great together. Did you see the special last week - Spotlight on with Robin Roberts - she interviewed Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, etc. They showed footage of Brad Paisley’s warehouse that is for his guitars and equipment - underwater from the floods, a couple days before his H2O tour was starting. Wow. He seems to be so down to earth. </p>
<p>I guess I’ll be listening to my country station again tomorrow. Every year after the CMAs I get on a country kick for a while.</p>
<p>We are out of town and missed being in Nashville for CMAs. We went “in person” in 2007 as part of a recruited “audience” for a particular part of the arena and it was one of the greatest things I have attended. I will never forget it. We watched part on TV this year and have it recorded at home.</p>
<p>We love the country stars and the music. H has met Brad Paisley’s parents a couple of times (hung out with them at Starbucks after a bicycle ride). They are so nice and down to earth. WildChild met Taylor Swift at a condo pool a couple of summers ago and admitted to being “uncool” and feeling like a fool. </p>
<p>Our local DJ calls Lady A “Hillary and the Distractions”.</p>
<p>DH and I have been country music fans for years but lately (and on last night’s show) we’ve really noticed that “country” in many cases doesn’t sound country any more.
Taylor Swift’s song at the piano sounded more pop than country to me and Sugarland’s performance didn’t resemble anything I’d call country. Seems like the genre is changing and shifting more toward a pop sound, probably to attract a larger portion of young listners.</p>
<p>^^There was a good editorial about that in the Nashville paper yesterday morning by columnist Gail Kerr. (The Tennessean) You should try to find it online. Basically, country HAS changed a number of times over the years, and Kerr’s opinion was “so what”. Many listeners like the full range- Conway Twitty all the way to Taylor Swift. (including me) It really was a good column.</p>
<p>I agree that country has gone through many incarnations. I think the big shift started wtih “Urban Cowboy,” which opened the way for Garth and all the “hat” guys. But I love it all. I’ve seen so much Loretta Lynn recently and have a new appreciation for her talent.</p>
<p>Anyone have any insight into Taylor Swift? She seemed like such a nice, smart girl, but her dating John Mayer was an epic fail. What was she thinking? I’m wondering whether she was really a bad girl all this time.</p>
<p>^^I prefer to think that Taylor Swift is still basically a nice, smart girl and not a Hollywood pop tart. But maybe the John Mayer episode can be explained as simply a case of her falling for a pretty face. I’ve heard a number of women, including some of the mothers right here on CC, express the notion that he is really hot. Hopefully Ms Swift has smartened up thanks to her bad experience. Everyone has to learn at least a few of life’s lessons the hard way.</p>
<p>He is nice to look at, but you couldn’t pay me to sleep with him. A sleaze who kisses and tells.</p>
<p>Since I’m not a close follower of country music, I had never heard of Blake Shelton before. I thought his performance during the show was absolutely AMAZING. He will become a household word among music lovers in due time.</p>
<p>My D, who is in college in NYC for musical theatre, has become a huge fan of country music in the past couple of years. It was not really surprising to me that she would enjoy country songs as they usually tell a story just like the Broadway showtunes she loves so much!</p>
<p>yds - I agree with you 100% that John Mayer is a sleaze!</p>