Koo Koo for Kenny or Just Plain Ole Crazy?

I've been following 94.7 QDR's Koo Koo for Kenny contest over the last few days. Fans proposed a crazy activity that would be in exchange for tickets to Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw's Brothers of the Sun Tour, probably the most sought after tickets of the summer. I'm assuming the radio station received many proposals and chose the ones they thought were the most entertaining.

The first three of these acts seemed appropriate, a young lady died her hair blue and has committed to keeping it that way for 18 months (too long but it's unlikely they can hold her to it), a man was taped up on a telephone pole and sang Kenny Chesney songs, and a woman bobbed for tickets in a kiddie pool filled with key lime pie. (I have no idea how long the links above will be active.)

Today the game changed, and a man had large images of QDR's ACM and CMA awards tattooed on his calves in exchange for front row seats. You read correctly, tattoos in exchange for concert tickets. I'm surprised the radio station actually went along with this as it's so extreme and permanent.

As much as I would love tickets, especially front row seats, for The Brothers of the Sun Tour, I wouldn't get a tattoo in exchange for those tickets if the tickets included a nightcap with Tim and breakfast in bed with Kenny.

The tattoo artist should have hidden an image of a Darwin Award in his design. Enjoy the concert,
Sir. Hope that laser tattoo removal doesn't sting too much.

Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw singing Rock Star

Kudos to Carrie for Coming Out in Support of Gay Marriage

I am so glad that Carrie Underwood came out in support of gay marriage. You would think that Nashville makes everyone who isn't a conservative member of the Republican party wear a gag by the silence of more liberal country music stars. Brad Paisley has played at the White House, but recently, Willie Nelson has been the only one out there willing to open his mouth. 

Underwood explained her support for gay marriage during an interview with the Independent in the UK. You'll have to slog through a good bit of British condescension (country fans are "wide assed bible thumpers") to find her comments.

 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/welcome-to-my-country-can-americas-sweetheart-carrie-underwood-win-over-the-uk-7820921.html

Then they came out with this article, discussing how her comments will affect her popularity in the US and elsewhere. I'm not concerned.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/carrie-underwood-us-country-queen-speaks-out-for-gay-marriage--but-how-will-conservative-fans-take-it-7831956.html

 Carrie Underwood is going to do just fine without the support of a few people who decide which singer they are going to listen to according to politics and religion. Music either speaks to a listener or it doesn't and unless a singer says or does something outrageous, fans don't abandon them. I don't agree with all of Trace Adkins political views, but like his music and will buy it regardless of what he says on Fox News.

I think celebrities get in trouble with fans when they say something that is obviously disrespectful, be it disrespectful of their fans, a racial group, a religion, the president, or the nation. Although I'm sure many of her fans disagree with her on the subject of gay marriage, Underwood didn't attack them or their churches. She only talked about herself, her church, and her opinion. This is no Dixie Chicks incident.

Country Music Saves 99.9% of the Day in Costa Rica

After landing in Costa Rica and driving for three hours on windy, steep roads full of truck traffic and bridges only one car wide, I was near tears by the time we checked into our hotel, Leaves and Lizards, in the Costa Rican rain forest. The multitude of bugs that checked into our hotel room with us because we left a door open for too long pushed me completely over the edge.

When we sat down for dinner, alone in a large open-air dining room surrounded by the black of night, the sounds of country music were like a sign from God that things were going to start looking up and I was going to survive this family vacation.

So what were they playing at Leaves and Lizards, you ask? They had two albums on shuffle. Sugarland's Incredible Machine, and Brian McComas' 2003 self titled CD.

I had never heard Brian McComas. Now that I have, I'm 99.9% sure that his song "99.9% Sure (I've never been here before)" was the best possible song for the moment.

It ended up being a great trip, but apart from pictures and memories, the only souvenir I have is Brian McComas' almost ten year old album downloaded from itunes.

A couple days later in the dining room. All smiles.