The Year in Review: Awards, Awards, Awards

I’m excited to comment on this year’s industry awards because it gives me another opportunity to remind our readers that I skunked the rest of the staff in our predictions for both the ACM Awards and CMA Awards. I’ll have at least a few months to revel in the glory, but I imagine that everyone will be gunning for me come the next awards cycle.

The Grammys: Disgrace in the Guise of Triumph

On paper, the 2007 Grammy Awards were an historic triumph for country music, as the combination of The Dixie Chicks and Carrie Underwood delivered an unprecedented sweep of the major categories. The reality was not nearly as glorifying. Consider the Dixie Chicks, the primary beneficiaries of the country sweep, who departed from the country-bluegrass sound of their previous projects to create a rock-leaning album. The release of Taking the Long Way was followed by assertions from the Dixie Chicks that they no longer wished to be considered country and did not want fans who have artists like Toby Keith and Reba McEntire in their CD changers. Taking the Long Way, a fine album by any standard, is nonetheless not even the best album in the Chicks’ catalog, let alone an album worthy of accomplishing an historic Grammy sweep. The inconvenient truth is that the Chicks’ Grammy triumph likely had more to do with the viciousness of their anti-Bush vitriol than the quality of their comeback album.

The result was a series of “victories” that was nothing short of an insult to country music. Carrie Underwood, the one major award winner who embodies the spirit, rather than the antithesis, of country music, was a welcome exception. Her performance of “San Antonio Rose” showcased her ability to interpret traditional material in an unlikely venue. Nonetheless, Underwood, that year’s Best New Artist and one of the best selling acts of the previous year, was not given an opportunity to perform her original music. For their other “country” performance, the Academy selected Rascal Flatts, the genre’s most embarrassing artistic disaster, to perform a tribute to The Eagles, a group fronted by the conveniently left-leaning Don Henley. The Eagles have been recast as country and are the favorite sons of artists, executives and critics who wish to abandon the genre’s traditional elements in favor of a new style that resembles poorly imitated Southern classic rock. Using the genre’s performance time to allow Rascal Flatts to perform a tribute to The Eagles showcased only the Academy’s disrespect of country music.

Country music is the most listened to genre in America. It’s a testament to the Academy’s prejudice against the genre that it achieved major recognition only when represented by a vocal group that publicly expressed disdain for everything it represents.

ACM Awards: Traditionalists Carry the Day

I can’t say that George Strait’s two surprise victories at the ACM Awards disappointed me, but it’s clear that the Academy made a significant error in awarding Single of the Year honors to “Give It Away,” a song barely distinguished from the 50+ other number ones in Strait’s catalog, over “Before He Cheats,” Carrie Underwood’s massive cross-genre hit. It was a good night for Ms. Underwood, as she led the nominees with three victories, but her success didn’t equal the five award sweep that many predicted. Brad Paisley picked up a male vocalist award en route to his eventual CMA triumph while Kenny Chesney held on to Entertainer of the Year honors.

Another surprise came in the Top New Female Vocalist category, where Miranda Lambert won the last genre new artist award for which she was eligible. Had the awards been held a few months later, Lambert may well have lost to Taylor Swift’s multi-platinum surge. At the time, however, her win was eminently deserved. Only the Carrie Underwood juggernaut denied Lambert a CMA Horizon Award and the 2006 ACM Top New Female award, and Miranda was riding the wave of a top-selling sophomore album and a surprisingly successful radio single while Taylor Swift’s “Teardrops on My Guitar” was stalled in the bottom rungs of the singles chart.

However, one performance provided the show’s most newsworthy and moving moment when Tim McGraw debuted “If You’re Reading This,” a poignant tribute to fallen soldiers that would become a radio hit and a late addition to Tim’s 2007 album release.

CMA Awards: The Brooks & Dunn Dynasty Falls

Sugarland was the story in a night full of long-overdue upsets. Their surprise victory in the Top Vocal Duo category, historically dominated by Brooks & Dun even during the artistic void that has been their last few years, restored credibility to a largely superfluous category. Their performance of “Stay,” the duo’s best single to date, only validated their win.

After years of little hardware to show for numerous nominations, Brad Paisley walked away with the male vocalist trophy. Taylor Swift, buoyed by “Teardrops on My Guitar” and strong sales of her eponymous debut, claimed the Horizon Award in a moment that she called “the highlight of my senior year.” Tracy Lawrence, an artist seemingly well-past his commercial prime, earned his first CMA Award for the surprise hit “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.”

A strong group of performances provided the best frame for the evening. Sugarland vied with Alison Krauss’ “Simple Love” for the title of the night’s best performance, while Kellie Pickler burst into tears at the end of an evocative performance of “I Wonder.” Taylor Swift’s Barbie Doll glitz and pitchy performance of “Our Song” and Big & Rich’s raucous performance of “Loud,” contrasted with the smooth country swing of George Strait’s “Cowgirls,” inspired the New York Times to ask what exactly the country music of 2007 is supposed to sound like.