PureCountryMusic.Com Blog

I, like many other people lucky enough to have been born and raised in Nashville, cherish the city’s international reputation as a place where great musicians go to test their skills against the countless talented professionals. Outstanding musicians from the world over flock to Music City, not only to chase dreams of country stardom, but also to make use of the town’s seemingly limitless supply of top-notch recording studios, producers, sound engineers, sessions musicians, and songwriters. Many newcomers to the Nashville scene — even those who come from the thriving music communities in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Austin — are amazed by the level of musicianship they find here. Country fanatics travel from distant corners of the world to pay homage to Music City’s past and present prodigies. Since Nashville’s reputation as a place where, to quote Bobby Bare, Jr., “guitar picks stumble out of gumball machines,” derives from its long-standing symbiotic relationship with country music, it comes as no surprise that CMA Fest, an event held every summer during which fans gather to see the genre’s biggest stars and emerging acts perform and sign autographs, is such an important representation of our culture. It is a time when stars mingle with the public, and since its inception as Fan Fair in 1972, performers have taken the stage without compensation.

But mustachioed millionaire Kix Brooks, the less recognizable half of famous country duo Brooks & Dunn, believes that performers should be paid. In other words, CMA Fest would have to rely on corporate sponsors The biggest country acts command enormous sums of money for a weekend show, complains Brooks. “So you’re talking multiple six-figures,” he said to a group of Nashville businessmen, ”that these acts have given up to do this for free.”

Nevermind the many hardcore fans that come all the way from Western Australia, the Scottish Highlands, or any number of other locations around the globe, to hear their favorite music in the city where it was created.  After all, we must consider the plight of poor, malnourished country singers like Kix Brooks, musn’t we? Otherwise, how will he be able to pay for the tricked-out Lear Jet he’s had his eye on for so long? We wouldn’t want him to suffer for 10 miserable hours in first class on a commercial flight the next time he wants to spend a week in the south of France.

 I don’t mean to go overboard with the hyperbole — I don’t know where Kix vacations or how he gets there. Furthermore, I am not opposed to the idea of artist’s being reimbursed for the cost of putting on a great show (and for traveling to Nashville, if the artist in question doesn’t reside here). However, this event is for the fans, and it is unspeakably selfish and greedy to threaten both the city he calls home and the fans who pay the mortgage on his Brentwood mansion.

 Listen, Kix: no one denies that you are a very good songwriter who has mastered the craft of lyric writing. You’re no Bobby Braddock or Diane Warren, but you’ve got skills. But it seems like the years of stardom with Brooks & Dunn have caused you to forget where you came from, and why you have gotten so far in the music business. Luckily, I was too young to personally witness your attempt at a solo career, because it always makes me sad to see  If not for Ronnie Dunn’s unique vocal style and the luxury of co-writing Terry McBride as a writing partner, you’d probably still be a staff writer somewhere. Or, had you made a few bad decisions along the way, you may have fallen out of favor with the movers and shakers on the Row, in which case you could very well be boxed out of the industry entirely. If CMA Fest does go the way of corporate sponsorship, it should be for the purpose of lowering ticket prices for fans who make the pilgrimage to our city – not to pay outrageous sums of money to big-name acts under threat of losing the festival. Deep down, beneath that big mustache of yours, I know you have appreciation for the millions of people who adore you. Enough with the business criminal talk, Kix. You sound like Gordon Gekko from Wall Street. Greed is not good.