New York gets its country on

[musicradio77]

After fanning out for weeks to spread the gospel of honky-tonk around New York City, the country music world reassembled at Madison Square Garden last night to honor its own in the 39th annual Country Music Awards.

That turned out to mean the likes of Keith Urban, who won the coveted Entertainer of the Year award for the second straight year, and Lee Ann Womack, who won three awards.

The sea of commuters around the Garden bobbed with more black and white cowboy hats than usual early last night, and several hundred fans gathered in an occasional drizzle on 31st St. to catch a glimpse of the stars as they stepped onto a short red carpet.

Most of the fans seemed to be local, reflecting the well-kept secret that New York has a large and lively country music scene.

"You just have to know where to look," said Rachel Smith, who took the train in from New Jersey. "The only thing we don't have is a [country] radio station."

Smith got sympathy from Urban, who said backstage: "The energy here is phenomenal. It's a great night for New Yorkers who are starved for their country music radio."

Raising country's profile in New York is why the Country Music Association went to considerable trouble and expense to bring the awards here this year.

Although most stars expressed delight at being in the big city, they also couldn't resist a few jokes about the contrast between downtown and downhome.

Vince Gill opened his Hall of Fame presentation by affecting a "Sopranos" accent and saying, "So it turns out there's a rule here that you can't do a show without a guy named Vinny."

If New York were the capital of country, joked co-host Kix Brooks, "Bobbie Gentry might have written 'Ode to Billy Joe.'"

And by sheer coincidence, Billy Joel was in the house. He admitted he doesn't own a cowboy hat, but he was hardly the only Yankee in sight, as Paul Simon, Norah Jones, James Gandolfini and Jon Bon Jovi all made appearances through the evening.

There were several nods to musical cross-pollination, such as having Simon sing Willie Nelson's "Crazy" while Nelson sang Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years." The results, perhaps unintentionally, underscored how country itself has drifted toward rock of late - a point reconfirmed by a remote of rock child Garth Brooks from Times Square and Alan Jackson choosing to sing Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight."
Next year, the awards return to Nashville.

[Steve M.]

No if they only had a decent country station in NYC, they'd be in business! Hey, could you imagine what NYC would be like without a decent rock station. . . okay, bad example!