CMA voters snub Rascal Flatts
Show’s top category omits popular band

By PETER COOPER and CINDY WATTS • Staff Writers • September 11, 2008
The link to the article at the Tennessean is: http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080911/TUNEIN02/809110367

Say what you will about the CMA Awards, but it’s certainly not a popularity contest. If it was, it stands to reason that Rascal Flatts would be a top contender. With 3 million albums and 1.2 million tickets sold last year, the band is nothing if not popular.

Wednesday morning, the Country Music Association announced nominees for the 42nd Annual CMA Awards, a show that is often billed as “Country Music’s Biggest Night.” Country music’s biggest star of 2008, Kenny Chesney, led the field with seven nominations. George Strait (six), Sugarland (six), Alan Jackson (four) and Brad Paisley (four) also scored handfuls of nominations, and teenage dynamo Taylor Swift entered the female vocalist category with a shriek, a gasp and hugs all around.
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Much of the CMA buzz, though, centers on the omission of country music’s biggest band, Rascal Flatts, from the entertainer of the year category. In a depressed music economy, Rascal Flatts has sold more than 2 million copies of its latest album Still Feels Good, scored several radio hits in the past year and become one of the top 10 touring acts in all of music.

“This is showing that CMA members by and large don’t value touring,” said Ray Waddell, Billboard magazine’s senior editor for touring. “They’re missing what’s driving this business now. It shows they’re out of touch. Rascal Flatts are putting up some of the best numbers of their career.”

The entertainer category features the same artists as last year — Chesney, Brad Paisley, George Strait and Keith Urban — except that Rascal Flatts was omitted in favor of Sugarland, the duo featuring Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush. Sugarland has been on a commercial and critical roll, headlining a tour, scoring radio hits and re leasing the Love On The Inside album to positive reviews.
Flatts outdraws Sugarland

Many industry insiders, including Waddell, predict that Sugarland could become one of country’s next superstar-level acts, and Nettles (who also received a best song nomination for “Stay” becomes the first female nominated in the entertainer category since 2001. On tour, according to Billboard Boxscore’s figures, Sugarland averages crowds of about 5,000 per night, roughly a third of Flatts’ draw.

“Our nominations are obviously not based on numbers per se or stats,” CMA Chief Executive Officer Tammy Genovese said. “It’s really voted on by their peers and the people in this industry.”

Genovese went on to say, “Sugarland is an amazing act, and I’m really glad to have them in the category.”

The voting pool is made up of more than 5,000 country music professionals, none of whom are bound to consider sales numbers or other objective criteria. “Each member is going to have his or her own definition of what ‘entertainer’ means,” said producer, songwriter and educator Tim DuBois, chairman of the CMA’s awards and recognition committee. “As a voter, you’re probably not going to pull out a lot of statistics.”

Voting is more about impressions and allegiances than numbers, often making for some good drama. And this year’s nominee field should provide that drama. Will The Eagles unseat Rascal Flatts in the vocal group category? How will critically beloved Alison Krauss and Miranda Lambert fare in a female vocalist grouping that includes Swift, Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood? Can Trace Adkins’ “You’re Gonna Miss This” overtake Hall of Famer Strait’s “I Saw God Today” and Chesney’s “Don’t Blink” as top single and give Adkins his first-ever CMA trophy?
Stuck in the middle

Randy Goodman is president of Lyric Street Records, the company that releases and promotes Rascal Flatts albums. He’s also president of the CMA’s board of directors, and he “respectfully declined” to comment for this story.

Flatts lead singer Gary LeVox noted Wednesday on Good Morning America that his group has been “one of the biggest tours in the world,” but he and his bandmates did no televised grumbling over any perceived slight.

Goodman wants recognition for his artists, but he knows that there are worse rooms to be in than the one occupied by top-selling artists who don’t get entertainer of the year nominations. Tim McGraw and Toby Keith have been in that room for several years, and they’re finding it quite well catered and well appointed.

Fans buy tickets based on songs and performances, not awards tallies. And country fans remain quite interested in seeing shows by Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw and Toby Keith. Sugarland, too, for that matter.

Peter Cooper writes about music for The Tennessean. He can be reached at 615-259-8220 or by e-mail at pcooper@tennessean.com.

Cindy Watts can be reached at 615-664-2227 or ciwatts@tennessean.com.