Let the Parties Begin!

And so... CMA week is upon us.

Tonight's schmooze fest was a Curb Records Showcase at the Musician's Hall of Fame. A very odd event, with a bunch of radio station winners in the front, and the industry folks at the back. And a cash bar. A cash bar at a private showcase? Unheard of. The food was good, but that room isn't really good for a full band performance. Nothing but concrete everywhere.

Steve Holy hosted the show, and it kicked off with Bomshel. They bombed. Everyone around me was wondering how in the world they got a record deal. They are a female duo, one of whom is a fiddle player. She decided to climb up on the bar as the band botched their way through "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." I had to pull my camera out and try to capture that moment. I'm fairly certiain these blonde bombshells are in their forties, trying to look like they're 20 something. After an INCREDIBLY long delay, Steve Holy performed 4 songs. I really liked what will be his next single, a song called "Come On Rain." Wow. After a slightly shorter delay, Amy Dalley was next. As much as I LOVE the stuff she's put out to this point, it seems Curb is curbing her, so to speak. She did a couple of songs that I wondered where they came from and who was singing them. That girl should have been a star eons ago, she's so talented.

By that point my coughing fits were coming back, my feet were tired from standing on the concrete floor for 2 hours, and my intern was bored silly. (So much for showing her the fun, party side of the business!) So we skipped out on Rodney Atkins and Jo Dee Messina.

Tomorrow night it's Gretchen and Josh Gracin on the Chevy Stage, followed by Eric Church at the Wildhorse. Sunday I'm covering Reba and Ronnie Milsap being inducted into the new Music City Walk of Fame, and then doing the Red Carpet at the Songs of the Year show at the new symphony center.

The REAL parties, of course, happen after the Awards themselves. RLG (now SonyBMG) is usually THE party to be at, but Capitol, Warner Brothers, and Lyric Street are all having them, as well as a joint party between two indys - Big Machine and Equity. I've picked three I'm hoping to hit. Still don't know what I'm wearing to anything over the next 3 days. (Is red satin too Christmasy?)

By the way, Delaynie has been grounded from everything for the rest of her life. No Gretchen for her.