Country Mike Blog

Nashville Star and more

Mike Sudhalter  |  June 12, 2008

I didn't watch much of Nashville Star on Monday night, but it seems like the show has changed drastically.

It's on NBC, instead of USA Network, and duos/groups are allowed to compete alongside solo acts. John Rich's presence adds a whole new spin to the show.

It's kind of bittersweet because when the show was on USA Network, it seemed like our little own country version of Nashville Star. Now, NS has hit the big time and with increased exposure, usually comes concessions to the mainstream.

I look forward to tuning into future episodes.

I may be one of the few listeners who enjoyed the early songs of Kenny Chesney. One of my favorites if "Fall in Love," but it seems like the only pre-1997 song he'll sing live is "Back Where I Come From," which lends itself to singing along.

I wish that artists occasionally performed retro concerts, like Chesney performing his mid-1990's stuff and dressing the part. Or Garth Brooks doing a live version of all the songs from his 1989 self-titled debut.

I guess that's one of the downsides to an artist becoming popular. There's no way to fit all of those hits into a show, especially the early ones that many of their latecomer fans don't know about.

Speaking of Chesney, I didn't really like his duet, "Shiftwork," with George Strait. That was until I heard the songwriter's version. The hit was written by Troy Jones II, and it seemed like more of a working class anthem when it came out of Jones' pipes.