Ok, I don’t mean to sound like I’m peddling a new television show to you – after all it has little to do with our with the Sage Audio Nashville mastering studio. However, it’s not every fall that a new show premieres that features our home town, or most anyone’s town for that matter (please disregard if you live in New York, Los Angeles or the ubiquitous Anytown, U.S.A.).
So anyway – one more post about “Nashville,” the new ABC series. But this time we have some opinions from Nashville music industry insiders as to whether the show is really true to the town, or just plays into traditional and rote stereotypes or Music City.
First of all, I was very impressed to see that the music from the first episode of the series was overseen by the legendary producer T Bone Burnett, who did the same for the Coen Brothers’ excellent “O Brother Where Art Thou?” (you’ll likely remember that the soundtrack for the movie won the Grammy for Album of the Year back in 2001).
To tell the truth, I was a little surprised at the positive feedback most of these quotes contain, all of which are courtesy of Billboard. It must be remembered, however, that these are only based on the premiere.
So without further ado, here’s what Nashville insiders think of “Nashville”:
Duane Allen – member of the Oak Ridge Boys:
“I feel this is the best depiction of the music business of Nashville, as I know it to be, that I have seen… I also appreciated that there was a genuine attempt to honor the ‘mother church’ of country music, the Grand Ole Opry… I was happy to see that all the people had their teeth, and that the hay bales and wagon wheels were no where to be seen.”
Bob Doyle – music publisher and manager of Garth Brooks:
“I had to laugh, [because] there is more drama going on in this town than they’ll ever be able to tell…. I think what they’ve done is taken an industry, like oil in ‘Dallas’ and advertising in ‘Mad Men,’ and built stories around it.”
Thom Schuyler – songwriter with songs recorded by Kenny Rogers, Eddie Rabbit, Randy Travis and more:
“I know that the writer and producer, Callie Khouri, has had an insider’s view of the business for many years and I believe she made every effort to offer an honest profile. Further, the fact that she broadened the plot to include non-music-business landscapes [like politics] is both wise and insightful and allow the public to appreciate ‘Music City’ for what it truly is: a lovely, forward-thinking, growing and important city in our country.”
Howard Bellamy – the Bellamy Brothers:
“I especially like the fact that they used some classic country songs like ‘Rose Colored Glasses’ by John Conlee and ‘Stand by your Man’ by Tammy Wynette. It will take a couple of episodes for me to be an accurate critic, but overall I liked it enough to want to watch it again.”
Clarence Spalding – manager of Jason Aldean and Rascal Flatts (I think the last part of this quote is my favorite of all):
“I thought the show was fantastic: well written, the actors were very believable and I think the show is a huge hit. I do wish the writers would give the manager in the show a set of balls.”
