With December coming to an end, one of my favorite things draws near – the new year!  There always just this sense of invincibility and freedom that the new year brings – a clean slate.  A chance to hit the resent button and do all the things you didn’t get to do (or promised you would) the previous year.  To me, New Year’s Day is like waking up after the best shower of your entire life.  Refreshed and ready to take on whatever the day brings.  Like many others, I like to make a list of resolutions for the coming year and I thought I’d share it with you.

It's finally here - Country Music's Biggest Night - the 46th Annual CMAs!  For country music fans, this is like Christmas morning...with the exception that we have to wait to open our presents this evening.  Nonetheless, I am super excited about this year's festivities.  There were a lot of artists that had really big years - Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Eli Young Band, Little Big Town, Taylor Swift, etc.  In years past there have been lots of nominations "just because," but not this year.  The nominees are stacked, the competition is stiff, and the live performance line up is, for a lack of better words, badass.

So, what are my picks for tonights awards?  Well, I'm glad you asked.  Starting from the bottom of the list to the top, here they are:

  I’ve been hearing a lot of complaints lately about how country music doesn’t sound like it used to anymore.  I agree.  It doesn’t.  The country music of today is more heavily influenced by pop and rock, even hints of folk at times.  Country music doesn’t sound “country” anymore, they say.  I disagree.  The styles of country music over the years have changed so much, who’s to say which style is country and which style isn’t?  I’m sure people in the 80s were saying how that country wasn’t “country” because it didn’t sound like it did in the 60s, just like the people of today are saying that current country isn’t “country” because it doesn’t sound like it did in the 90s.  It’s an endless cycle.  Music in general is always evolving, influenced by things that influence the artist – lifestyles, interests, trends, etc.

 A new artist breaks onto the music scene, peaks interest, makes a couple albums, becomes popular…then what?  Usually after the second or third album, they get too comfortable and predictable with their material that they start looking for a different direction.  Why?  Isn’t the saying, “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it?”  Yes.  However, no one wants to listen to five albums of the same thing.  That would be like doing the same Mad Lib over and over and just plugging in different words.  Eventually you would get tired of the story…no matter how good it was.