Speaking of the CRS, the fact that Sony felt it necessary to close their boat show with Bryan Adams says all that needs to be said about the state of country radio right now. Basically, what Sony is saying is that a rock act like Adams or Frampton is automatically a bigger deal than all of the record label’s country music stars. I’m all for putting on a fun show, but Sony has extremely successful acts in Lambert, Paisley, Underwood, and Brooks and Dunn. If your label’s biggest country acts aren’t enough to entertain country radio programmers, than perhaps you have to rethink a few things…namely, how well do the radio programmers really appreciate and respect the tradition of country music. It’s a similar type of plague that effects many award shows, who often showcase artists like Daughtry, Elton John, or the B52s in an effort to reach more pop fans, all at the expense of a quality up-and coming artist or a legend of the genre. To me, this just reflects the lack of identity that country music is struggling with. The record labels don’t seem to have confidence in what they’re trying to promote, and the radio programmers don’t seem to have an idea as to what “country music” really is.

On a positive note, I loved the Cowboy Troy and Eric Church snark. And, the guy who won the ITunes certificate seems to be a pretty cool dude.