Grammy tour already cooler than actual Grammys?
The Grammy brand extends into the world of touring next week, with an April 3 date in Chicago. It's the first of five Grammy-sponsored shows (a cell phone provider is also involved, and getting into the gigs requires one to navigate around the company's Web site).
The Chicago show features singer/songwriter Cat Power and R&B singer John Legend. Legend's nice, but expected, as he may as well be a Grammy spokesman these days, but Cat Power? Maybe someone in Grammy Land confused her with Grammy singer/songwriter of the moment Feist, but Cat Power (aka Chan Marshall) is a far more inspired choice. She'll be performing to support her recently released "Jukebox," its nicotine-scarred soul worthy of some Grammy recognition in 2009.
But what's even more curious about the lining about of Cat Power is the fact that she's never actually won a Grammy. No matter, Grammy could do wonders for its brand if it stopped paying attention to the artists who won the things. Yet even more perplexing is the fact that Cat Power records for an independent label, and independent labels accounted for a grand total of zero nominations in this year's pop field.
The Grammy shows will hit New York, Miami, Dallas and Los Angeles throughout April, but thus far artists have only been announced for the Chicago date.
Photo: Cat Power, courtesy Stefano Giovannini
