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From Tootsie's to the Ryman - Part 2 in a series
by Brian Mansfield of MusicCityNews.com
"“It all starts with a song.” It’s a well-worn adage, for sure, and easy to forget in today’s superstar climate. But in Nashville, where the music publishers still wield real power, it’s wise not to forget it. Forget anything else you want, but if you’re trying to launch a country music career without good material, you might as well go ahead and hang it up now. To be perfectly frank, I had to look for my notes to remember the name of the group that won the July round of the From Tootsie’s to the Ryman talent competition (JR & Misty and the Roadkill Choir, as it turns it out; you wouldn’t think I’d forget a thing like that – but that’s why I take notes). But more than a month after seeing them perform just once, I can still quote the entire chorus of one of their songs: I’m drinkin’ you beautiful But it’s not going well You still look the same And now I feel like hell. I remember more about them, of course. I remember that they made me think of Jack Blanchard and Misty Morgan, that off-kilter couple that had hits like “Tennessee Birdwalk” and “Humphrey the Camel” back in the ‘70s. I remember their other song was about a female trucker. And I remember that Misty wore a really tight Tootsie’s T-shirt. Long after I’ve forgotten all those things, though, I’ll still remember that chorus, so simple and direct you can’t help but wonder how nobody else came up with it in all these years. The material made a big difference in August, too, eventually separating the two most promising acts. One sang a forlorn ballad about a Colorado town that had judges wondering about the number-one fan of the man from Tennessee. Winner Buck Jones, on the other hand, sang a Dierks Bentley-style shuffle about drunk-dialing - a modern-day phenomenon that hasn’t yet received its due from the Nashville songwriting community. (And if you think Buck Jones is a perfect moniker for a country singer, you’re right – he’s got the same name as a Hollywood western star who died in Boston’s infamous Coconut Grove fire in 1942.) While a memorable song is absolutely essential, a little stage presence goes a long way, too. Jones and JR & Misty had it in spades. But the gangly kid who looked like a young Bob Denver and seemed to disappear into himself as he tuned his guitar between songs didn’t. And the cute blonde who struggled to tap the tempo on her thigh never had a chance. On the other hand, Sullivan – four Alabama sisters who obviously knew their way around a stage (and had pretty decent songs, too) – might very well have won on a different night, against a different lineup. I don’t know if JR & Misty will ever make it out of the clubs. Novelty acts often work great on the bar circuit without every getting much farther. I don’t even know if they’ll win September’s final competition at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Ford Theater and wind up opening for Ray Price at the Ryman Auditorium in October. But I do know “I’m Drinkin’ You Beautiful” is the one song I’ve told other people about. At this stage of the game, that’s enough."
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