The CMA Awards and Today's Country Music

We watched the CMA Awards. We were entertained.

George Strait and Alan Jackson doing George Jones.

Rascal Flatts, Darius Rucker and Jennifer Nettles singing with Kenny Rogers.

Dave Grohl playing drums with the Zac Brown Band.

Mick Jagger, Ellen DeGeneres, Julia Roberts, etc. congratulating Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift with Vince Gill and Allison Krauss.

Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Kieth Urban, Kacey Musgraves, the Band Perry, etc. performing.

It was all good.

But according to our Twitter and Facebook feeds, it was an unmitigated disaster. Why? Not because it wasn't entertaining. Not because the performances were bad. Because it wasn't country enough.

Guess what? It was exactly what is being played on country music radio. And you know what else? We agree. It really ain't country. But we don't care, it was entertaining. And we like to be entertained by entertainers.

If you want to play semantics, fine. It wasn't traditional country.

It all reeks of musical elitism to us. We like a variety of music. The last time we put our master playlist on shuffle it gave us the following: the Band Perry, Cinderella, Marc Cohn, Billy Joel, Tesla, Martina McBride, Casey Donahew Band, the Bangles, Alice Cooper, Grace Potter, Poison, Iron Maiden, Jewel, Bon Jovi, Kim Mitchell, Halestorm and Roger Creager. Go figure.

You can find the music you like if you want. Sometimes it takes work when your music of preference is not popular at the time. But it's out there. The machine on which you are reading this can take you to your genre of choice. And you may discover new and exciting music. Give it a try.

What was played at the CMA awards is what is considered country music today. You don't have to like it. But that's the reality.

If you are not entertained, change the channel. Don't listen to it.

Rather than bemoan what is wasn't, we prefer to be entertained. And we were.