CMA Awards: Jason Aldean makes his award-show statement
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When it comes to crossover country, Jason Aldean represents a sudden sea change. His reliance on traditional country guitar licks with modern storytelling embellishments is a long way removed from the likes of Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Lady Antebellum, just to name a few of the acts who have dominated the scene of late.
Aldean performed his ‘Tattoos on This Town’ tonight at the CMA Awards, and it’s a sturdy hit. It looks back, but without the nostalgia that mainstream Nashville songwriters are so obsessed with. A bit of a surprise, then, that Blake Shelton was named male vocalist of the year, but the CMAs don’t aways take easy to change (see Kenny Chesney’s entertainer of the year run), and Shelton won for the second year in running. If one were to judge on the award show performances of Aldean and Shelton, however, this should have been Aldean’s year.
Yet Martina McBride put all this award show silliness into perspective. Performing her ‘I’m Gonna Love You Through It’ in the round, McBride made cancer sound graceful, and it’s hard not to believe every word she sings. After all, few other vocalists can use the C-word twice in a song and not have it completely bring down the tune.
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-- Todd Martens
