This Three Hour televised concert from the Ryman Auditorium was a winner for me and I think that a lot of folks that hate Nashville Country music would at least like it, if they saw this side of country music. First off, it is a very stripped back affair, mostly acoustic and the full band songs were not as full of effects and the pageantry usually associated with a Country concert. Brad Paisley's wife and actor James Denton were the hosts of the show. There were celebrities manning the phones and a lot of flood footage during songs, but the music ruled.
Brad came running out ,starting the show with "Welcome To The Future", you could tell that folk did not have their usual road bands so a lot sung solo or with the house band. The drummer on Paisley's first song was great, really keeping a groove, and it seemed that Brad was happy letting other guys play lead guitar some since he did not have his effects, just a Dr Z amp with what looked like one pedal on top. He usually has a full rack with several pedals which were all destroyed in the flood. Dierks Bentley played with him on another song "American Saturday Night" and Brad was having fun playing, talking to the audience.
Martina was there singing about 3 or 4 songs and sounded very good. The crowd seemed to get the most excited when Keith Urban came out and did 2 acoustic songs, The first,"The Beatles -Help", which came out well. Then He did an upbeat version of an original song. He got the crowd involved in the song.
A couple of Nascar drivers showed up with the Head of Nascar to show their Support. The artists were really good at picking their songs and usually picked one out of their repertoire intended for encouragement. Some artists just showed up to man the phones ,and not even do a song.
New Nashville native Kebmo was there with another guy playing banjitar with him. He played a very appropriate song and sounded quite good. Two Christian artists who make Nashville their home did a song, CeCe Winans and Jaci Velasquez. They both were very good.
Sheryl Crow came out and did one new song that she had written on piano by herself. She talked about how much Nashville felt like home to her.
Kellie Pickler showed up for a song and some phone time, You know, this young lady is really doing herself well, she just has a great way about her and a good attitude. She sang a song with a couple of acoustic guitarists which came off real well.
I have always kind not liked Lady Antebellum, I guess for their super slick productions or some dumb thing, but their live appearances really won me over, They really got a large crowd reaction during their performances. They harmonize so well even live and their lo key demeanor can really win you over. What a vocal performance!!
All in all, This was very well done, and I think it really showed the good parts of Nashville and what The volunteer state is all about. They raised 2 million dollars for the surrounding 52 counties that need help, just a dent, but a good dent. Go to GAC's website if you would like to make a donation, the money goes to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. It was hard to get thru on the phone lines, They showed the show back to back, and I got thru about a half hour into the second showing, and now I could kick myself, cause I talked to a nice sounding lady named Nicole, who was probably Nicole Kidman, because she was helping on the phones. Why couldn't I have at least asked?? A lot of people hung up om Brad Paisley who was on the phones alot.
http://www.gactv.com/gac/pac_ctnt/text/0,,GAC_26058_98169,00.html
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