Country Mike Blog

Garth in NY

Mike Sudhalter  |  September 2, 2007

Can you believe its been 10 years since the historic Garth Brooks Concert in New York's Central Park?

I watched it on a DVD, which I purchased last year, but for some reason, I'm thinking that it's missing some of the tracks. I didn't remember seeing "The Beaches of Cheyenne" or "That Summer" on the list, but I'm pretty sure he performed them that night.

Still, it was a great show that I'll continue to watch 10, 20, etc. years from now.

Do you like when country singers cover old pop songs? I think it's pretty cool. Newcomer Katie Armiger recorded "Love Of A Lifetime", which was a pop power ballad hit by Firehouse in the early 1990's. In fact, they played it at one of my junior high dances. Armiger's version is slower, but it's still pretty good.

Usually, I'm not a big fan of pop artists crossing over to country, but former Poison frontman Bret Michaels can sing country, rock or metal at a high level and I wish he'd devoted more time to singing country. He was a judge on Nashville Star in 2005. One of his country songs, "Open Road", contains lots of fiddle. And the excellent ballad, "All I Ever Needed".

We might have a new anthem of tolerance from a folk band that received some videoplay on CMT, the Old Crow Medicine Show. They sing "I Hear Them All". I think the song like Brooks' "We Shall Be Free" has a message of religious tolerance.

Did you know former pop star Tiffany was going to cross over to country in the mid-1990's? She never released an album though. Who can blame her? Too many great country artists have to wait patiently while labels wait to release their albums.

Many country purists have their doubts on whether Kenny Chesney is a member of the genre anymore. Listen to two of his old songs and it'll have you wishin' for the old days - "Fall In Love", which's on his greatest hits, and the stone-country "From Hillbilly Heaven to Honky-Tonk Hell" with Tracy Lawrence and George Jones. Can anyone really blame Chesney for drifting towards pop/rock? If he became a bonafide superstar by singing songs like the aforementioned, there wouldn't have been any need to become this generation's singing beach bum.