CMA Awards

Earlier this week, we watched the CMA awards from our house... in Nashville... and it all just clicked that I was just steps away from the middle of everything going on downtown. I realized life takes you in directions that you would have never imagined...

When I was a teenager, I was introduced to country music through the MTV music awards when Garth Brooks made his "Friends in Low Places" appearance. Growing up with Power 99, 99x, and alternative radio, I was all about the MTV music awards show but uh, country?

So there I was working on some stuff in our office, watching the awards, and it all just hit me again that I now live in Nashville and it's truly the mecca of country music. After all, when I'm out and about, I often end up drive past Hank Williams' house to get to places and think of it as "just another house in the neighborhood." (When I was a teen, I honestly had no clue who Hank Williams Sr. was.) And when I went to the Brooks N Dunn final concert, it was no big deal for Reba to just drop in and sing with them... just like it was no big deal for Ronnie Dunn to show up on stage at the George Strait and Reba concert the week after. After all, these guys literally live just down the street from our concert venues.

We went to the Country Music Hall of Fame a few weeks ago during the Free Museum Day and as I sat there reading about all these artists, I was surprised by how "signficant places" took place in our regular stomping grounds. For example, I was reading about Tammy Wynette being "kidnapped" (had no clue about ANY of that) and when I was reading the "kidnapper's route," I realized we are always on Franklin Pike...

And it just goes on and on... When we were seeing a dentist in Hendersonville, Dan mentioned which area Johnny Cash lived, etc. I have met some interesting folks at the Y (producer for some big name bands, a dude who came to Nashville decades ago to open up the BMI office, etc). And, of course, everyone knows someone in the music business around here. You're simply not a Nashville resident if you don't ;)

So back to the CMA awards:

• It was really cool to see Brad Paisley win Entertainer of the Year. I think he's a pretty neat guy.
• Whenever I see the Zac Brown band, I think of my friend being a regular at the Dixie Tavern, and trying to get me to see this "band" that she thought was so amazing.
• I am still so proud to see the old Georgia natives: Alan Jackson, Sugarland, Zac Brown band, etc.
• I'm still amazed Darius Rucker is now a regular face in country music. Whenever I see him, I think of how I met some of his relatives in Charleston a LONG TIME AGO when we were doing missionary work in a low-income community. I wonder how those little kids turned out to be.
  
• I'm still so encouraged to see Taylor Swift being a humble young lady. It's quite refreshing to see that the celebrity status has not gone to her head in any way and I REALLY hope she continues to be that way.
  

So in the 90s, I could tell you who won what in the MTV music awards... and where am I in the new millennium? I seem to be more up to par on the CMA awards.... Life sure has a way of leading you down totally unexpected paths.