One thing that I remember reading from one of CMT’s 20 questions feature is when someone asked who he would like to record a duet with and he stated that he didn’t want to do a duet with anybody. I wonder why that is. It just stuck with me, because it’s not the answer that people usually give for that question.

You can’t lose money you never had if they provide the stage/crew/etc. You can only gain fans. I don’t worry about Dallas being the next music city, that will never happen. Fan fair, maybe… but I wouldn’t count on it. The Houston livestock show & rodeo is basically fan fair in another package already. Maybe they should compensate the bands though. There should only be compensation for major acts, the independents and newcomers are willing to do it for the exposure and fan base. (I’m capitalizg this for emphasis) DOES ANYBODY KNOW WHERE THE CMA FEST MONEY GOES? I could see the reasoning behind NOT paying if it goes towards Nashville’s education budget or another worthy cause.

I think as my generation slowly takes over years down the road, genre lines will be a bit more blurred on the pop side. But you’re always going to have straight country fans/rap fans/R&B fans/jazz fans. I think if anything, by the time guys my age (and lord willing, me!) make it in country it’s only going to take one person to throw us back into good country music.

I personally am not a fan of tattoos. The only tattoos that I classify as “cool” would be old war tattoos and things like that, back from when tattoos meant something. To me it sort of sounds like she wanted one at one point then changed her mind. I believe some of her fans have already had the tattoo though, which is crazy. I’m a huge Taylor fan, but let’s get real here, a tattoo!?

I don’t think the CMA Fest is saying it has problems. It’s an overwhelmingly successful venture, at least financially. But the artists would like to get paid, and the CMA might get even more big-name headliners from the deal if that can happen. And then it grows more, etc.

The CMA is saying it wants the city that benefits from the festival to contribute to its production and promotion. It’s basically considering (or threatening) to move to Atlanta or Dallas, where apparently they believe the city will kick in funds so that the artists can get paid without the CMA losing any of the money it raises for itself. Nashville gets a lot of revenue from the festival, and now the CMA is asking for a cut, but saying they’ll use that money to pay the artists.

Some artists, and their managers and agents, have always grumbled about playing the festival (or Fan Fair) for free because once they play the stadium, they can’t come back any time soon and stage a big arena or Ryman show. It essentially cuts a market out of their concert income base. Some artists skip the festival for that very reason.

Like you, I miss the old Fan Fair with the autographs and interaction between artists and fans. But the scale of the festival downtown and the numbers of fans who show up makes it impossible for the big artists like Faith and Time to do the kind of autograph sessions stars used to do. There’s just too many people, basically. It’s the same reason Loretta Lynn could walk off stage and sign autographs at a fair, but Kenny Chesney can’t walk off an arena stage with 20,000 fans there and expect to be able to sign autographs. The number of fans have made it impossible to do what country stars once did.

Some stars hold fan-club parties to provide a more intimate situation for those who sign up. But it’s mostly b-leve stars. The major stars are too popular to do it in a way that would satisfy people. Keith Urban used to do it as well as anyone, but now the number of fans who would show, and their fervor to interact with Keith, would make the old kind of fan-club situation impossible.

I don’t see how a move to Dallas or Atlanta would solve any problems. Artists who won’t stop to perform in Nashville for an evening certainly aren’t going to travel to Atlanta or Dallas. CMA Fest in one of these cities would probably resemble a more mainstream version of SXSW, and I’m not sure that’s a winning business model.

I remember waiting nearly 12 hours to see George Strait. When he came in he never said hello to anybody just quickly signed his name and pushed the photo back and turned to the next person in line.

Personally, I’m not a fan of tattoos, but I don’t see why a person with a tattoo might be less of a role model for that fact.