ACM awards

[GoldieLocks]

I missed it? I usually enjoy catching the awards show.

Was there no Vince Gill, or Roadhammers, Miranda Lambert? Usually the girl from Sugarland does some awesome vocals?!

I'm surprised they didn't have Bon Jovi hosting it , or did they?

[tadeo]

Originally Posted by Mike Dickerson

As for blaming a monitor engineer, all those acts that are at that level carry their own monitor engineer. Speculate but dont pont fingers unless you know the whole story. If you go to a concert usually the first song is where any fine tuning is done. There you just get one song. Things change in sound from any empty auditorium sondcheck.

I'll point a finger man. I was there on the show. Your personal monitor engineer can only look over the shoulder of the show engineer. Lots going on during these shows that Monday morning quarterbacks have no idea about.
It sure is easy to run it all down from the cheap seats.

I always know how these threads are gonna go after a show. This one is no exception. There's a knot in my stomach reading this. And I would have expected a little better from some who have "been there".

Tony

[Fendrcaster]

Bon Jovi got his licks in earlier on 60 Minutes.
For me, country music should be about the music, period. I've always felt that traditional country lyrics had meaning, this was always its strong point. Today, I'm just totally turned of by all the arena rock light shows, the rock star wannabes' guitar posturing and all the other glitz. George Strait got it right in "Pure Country"!

[wilkat1]

Carrie Underwood was easily the most talented vocalist of the night, hands down. The understated duet with Brad was the most musical moment of the show and I could have listened to a whole set of just those two.

I thought everyone else except Keith Urban was a bit shaky or pitchy.

[chet]

Wow! Two whiney anti-country music threads at the same time about the same show.

A new TDPRI record!

[WisconsinStrings]

It wasn't ALL bad. The Brad/Carrie thing was very cool. The Brooks and Dunn song was as well. One of the few tele's I saw all night and by far the best tone of anybody. The song Keith Urban did in the audience was pretty good too. Not "country" but still good.

Did anyone else notice a few SGs out there? Watch them take over the Lesters for next year. 2 years after that we'll see nothing but pointy Ibanez guitars.

The moment of the night for me was when Garth called Reba "Ms. Yearwood". Wow! Trisha didn't appear to be in too good of a mood when she came out to present a few minutes later.

[WisconsinStrings]

Originally Posted by tadeo

I'll point a finger man. I was there on the show. Your personal monitor engineer can only look over the shoulder of the show engineer. Lots going on during these shows that Monday morning quarterbacks have no idea about.
It sure is easy to run it all down from the cheap seats.

I always know how these threads are gonna go after a show. This one is no exception. There's a knot in my stomach reading this. And I would have expected a little better from some who have "been there".

Tony

Sorry, but it's all about the end result to me. Lots of bad singing out there, and in most cases it didn't look to be the artist's fault.

[chet]

Originally Posted by WisconsinStrings

It wasn't ALL bad. The Brad/Carrie thing was very cool. The Brooks and Dunn song was as well. One of the few tele's I saw all night and by far the best tone of anybody. The song Keith Urban did in the audience was pretty good too. Not "country" but still good.

Did anyone else notice a few SGs out there? Watch them take over the Lesters for next year. 2 years after that we'll see nothing but pointy Ibanez guitars.

The moment of the night for me was when Garth called Reba "Ms. Yearwood". Wow! Trisha didn't appear to be in too good of a mood when she came out to present a few minutes later.

Hey, Brad and Carrie played a duet?

I'm jealous!

I thought Garth was married to Trisha Yearwood?

[flyingb54]

Having done plenty of TV, from Saturday Night Live, to a ton of Nashville Now's, Tonight Shows & Hee Haws, I can tell you that Tony is 100% right.
Every act is at the mercy of the network soundman, and they pay no attention to anyone but themselves. Its a nightmare...acts do not use their own individual soundmen. They can't!
That said, it was still alot of crap acts and a very bizzare production. No soundman could have made many of those singers any better than they already were. Thats my point. I mean, all one had to do was look and listen. It certainly wasn't any mirage that I was witnessing, while watching that show. Like someone commented.."Who signs these acts?"

It was painful and embarrassing and a real hit to what country music should really be about. From Dwight Yokum, Ricky Skaggs, Alsion Krauss and others who were ommitted in favor of these cartoon acts, its a sham.
Its not just one opinion either. Its about substance, integrity and talent ( as in Waylon, Haggard, Dolly, Buck, Willie, Alabama, The Dirt Band, George Jones, etc etc etc) and all I saw was another example of the current down hill state of country music.

But Don't blame it on the act's sound guys, though. They were completely helpless.
JB

[chet]

Now the thread starters are posting in the others thread! Another first!

[WisconsinStrings]

Originally Posted by chet

I thought Garth was married to Trisha Yearwood?

Exactly! To make matters worse, it looked like Trisha Yearwood has put on a few more pounds and Reba looked fantastic.

I told my wife about it this morning. She didn't think it was a big deal, and said it wouldn't bother her too much if I made a similar mistake.

Yeah right!

[asatfan]

Now that you mention Sugarland.... What's the deal there?? Does the guy actually do anything? Why isn't she a solo act?

[PapaBeef]

Okay...
Just gotta say I hate all the "that aint country", talk.
I just wish people didn't have to pidgin hole everything into neat little categories.
Well, I guess it really aint country.
And just like all awards shows, there are more artists missing who should be there than there are artists who are there & deserve to be.
The monitor situation would probably apply to many of the singers last night.
But HOLY CRAP!
How could any one nominate Rodney Atkins for entertainer of the year?
The guy is completely tone deaf & couldn't carry a tune in a dump truck.
It sounded like another mastodon got stuck in the tar pit.
They really should put a fence around the tar pit.

[Mark Davis]

Originally Posted by wilkat1

Carrie Underwood was easily the most talented vocalist of the night, hands down. The understated duet with Brad was the most musical moment of the show and I could have listened to a whole set of just those two.

I thought everyone else except Keith Urban was a bit shaky or pitchy.

I agree 100%.

The reason the Carrie Underwood and Brad duet sounded good was it was an oldtime song with a good melody line. Brad did sing ok on that one on his own song he was really bad.

I think the material these people are singing is part of the problem the new country songs arent good songs.

I bet ya if all the artists on last nights show did country songs from 1930-1980 the show would have been a million times better.

Carrie Underwood and Sugarland and the duet with Brad and Carrie were the best parts of the show.

[flyingb54]

Again, good point Mark. I agree totally. As someone who has been lucky enough to have written a few hits myself, I can tell you that the level of creative songwriting in Nashville has dropped dramatically since my time on the Row.
Back then, songwriting was a serious craft and writers like Dewayne Blackwell, Bob McDill, Dave Loggins, Charlie Black , Rodney Crowell and others set a great standard for all of us to follow back then.
That standard just doesnt exist in todays country music.
Just compare HE STOPPED LOVING HER TODAY with what we heard last night on the awards show.
Its terrible.
jb

[Mark Davis]

Originally Posted by flyingb54

Again, good point Mark. I agree totally. As someone who has been lucky enough to have written a few hits myself, I can tell you that the level of creative songwriting in Nashville has dropped dramatically since my time on the Row.
Back then, songwriting was a serious craft and writers like Dewayne Blackwell, Bob McDill, Dave Loggins, Charlie Black , Rodney Crowell and others set a great standard for all of us to follow back then.
That standard just doesnt exist in todays country music.
Just compare HE STOPPED LOVING HER TODAY with what we heard last night on the awards show.
Its terrible.
jb

Yep just that one song He Stopped Loving her is a million times better than the current stuff.

I think alot of this is Garths fault.

BG or Before Garth hahah country wasnt as pop.

When Garth got popular the industry who only cares about $$ not talent jumped on the bandwagon and pretty soon Garth was the most popular performer. People were buying anything Garth released as fast as they could.

So other artists followed suit and thats why we are in this big mess.

Where was Randy Travis Vince Gill Josh Turner Alan Jackson Dwight Yoakam?

Tose guys and a few others are about the last ones that do real sounding country.

[asatfan]

Well, it's also about youth and image. The "audience" or "fans" as they're called, have a very short attention span. There are a few acts that are exceptions: George, Dwight, Brooks and Dunn, etc. Most country acts are lucky if they get 2 -3 years in the limelight. If you think about it, there are dozens of really talented people out there that basically fell out of grace and end up touring the little "opry" stages. These days, if you're good looking and a good "poser" you have a better chance than if you are actually talented.

[MandyMarie]

I wasn't able to watch but everytime one of these threads come up I can't help but feel like you guys are sort of angry at the wrong people.

If you want to blame someone for things being the way they are...you really have to blame the FANS (wait a minute...hear me out). They LIKE this stuff. And you can't be mad at someone for what they do or do not like. People support mainstream radio, they buy these albums, they sing these songs in the car, they're members of the fan club, they go to all the shows, they buy the concert tee, etc...THEY LIKE IT. And no one is forcing them to like it (it may be force fed to them via the radio but no one is forcing them to dig it) ...they just LIKE IT. Also, you can say that new country music is full of awful songwriting...but there's a million people who love the song you think is full of nothing but awful writing. It just doesn't do any good, people like what they like.

And just because one of your favorite performers wasn't on this awards show (George Jones, The Derailers, Wayne Hancock, Junior Brown, Dwight, Hal...whoever!) - that doesn't mean that they're not out there touring this country, working their butts off every single night and still being "successful." Keep an eye out on www.pollstar.com and support live shows...I bet there's a handful of people you don't even realize are still touring...and those people need you. You're not going to hear them on the radio...you're not going to see them on some major network award show...but they're probably going to be in your city at some point and they need ya! ...whew, sorry about that

[Fendrcaster]

Posted by flyingb54:

.......I can tell you that the level of creative songwriting in Nashville has dropped dramatically since my time on the Row.
Back then, songwriting was a serious craft and writers like Dewayne Blackwell, Bob McDill, Dave Loggins, Charlie Black , Rodney Crowell and others set a great standard for all of us to follow back then.
That standard just doesnt exist in todays country music.

How can you say that?! I fully expect "Ticks" to win an Ivor Novello Award for outstanding songwriting!

[jjh37854]

Originally Posted by MandyMarie

I wasn't able to watch but everytime one of these threads come up I can't help but feel like you guys are sort of angry at the wrong people.

If you want to blame someone for things being the way they are...you really have to blame the FANS (wait a minute...hear me out). They LIKE this stuff. And you can't be mad at someone for what they do or do not like. People support mainstream radio, they buy these albums, they sing these songs in the car, they're members of the fan club, they go to all the shows, they buy the concert tee, etc...THEY LIKE IT. And no one is forcing them to like it (it may be force fed to them via the radio but no one is forcing them to dig it) ...they just LIKE IT. Also, you can say that new country music is full of awful songwriting...but there's a million people who love the song you think is full of nothing but awful writing. It just doesn't do any good, people like what they like.

And just because one of your favorite performers wasn't on this awards show (George Jones, The Derailers, Wayne Hancock, Junior Brown, Dwight, Hal...whoever!) - that doesn't mean that they're not out there touring this country, working their butts off every single night and still being "successful." Keep an eye out on www.pollstar.com and support live shows...I bet there's a handful of people you don't even realize are still touring...and those people need you. You're not going to hear them on the radio...you're not going to see them on some major network award show...but they're probably going to be in your city at some point and they need ya! ...whew, sorry about that

well said!

[fierce_carrot]

Originally Posted by GopherTele

DAC--yeah, THAT will save things. Let's bring out one of the most hateful, disgusting human beings on the planet to tell the suits the what fer.

I saw him 3-4 years ago in concert and it was easily the worst show I've ever seen. I've never seen so many people leave half way through a show. All he did all night is name drop rap artists who he says like him and strut around in a pimp coat.

DAC is one of the original outlaws of country music and while you might not like him, or his music, he is the exact opposite of Rascal Flatts and pop country. Coe is NOT corporate country...about the only other person left that isn't is Shooter Jennings..

[txjonc]

Originally Posted by MandyMarie

I wasn't able to watch but everytime one of these threads come up I can't help but feel like you guys are sort of angry at the wrong people.

If you want to blame someone for things being the way they are...you really have to blame the FANS (wait a minute...hear me out). They LIKE this stuff. And you can't be mad at someone for what they do or do not like. People support mainstream radio, they buy these albums, they sing these songs in the car, they're members of the fan club, they go to all the shows, they buy the concert tee, etc...THEY LIKE IT. And no one is forcing them to like it (it may be force fed to them via the radio but no one is forcing them to dig it) ...they just LIKE IT. Also, you can say that new country music is full of awful songwriting...but there's a million people who love the song you think is full of nothing but awful writing. It just doesn't do any good, people like what they like.

And just because one of your favorite performers wasn't on this awards show (George Jones, The Derailers, Wayne Hancock, Junior Brown, Dwight, Hal...whoever!) - that doesn't mean that they're not out there touring this country, working their butts off every single night and still being "successful." Keep an eye out on www.pollstar.com and support live shows...I bet there's a handful of people you don't even realize are still touring...and those people need you. You're not going to hear them on the radio...you're not going to see them on some major network award show...but they're probably going to be in your city at some point and they need ya! ...whew, sorry about that

Nice post MM