Finding The Next Big Thing: In the world of Country music, if you don't move to Nashville and starve there for a few years, you don't stand much chance of being noticed by the decision makers on Music Row. There is something both good and bad about a music genre's hub being in one city. The good is that you know where to go (perhaps after being told where to go)to get noticed if performing is your aspiration. The bad is that great talent in places all across America may be missed because that person has not ventured out of his or her own city.

Country music historians remember a time when there were two different cities with their own sound; Nashville and Bakersfield. In the 1970's Buck Owens had a recording empire that strongly competed with Nashville with tremendous raw energy.

My point is that both the music and radio industry can work together to find the next big thing. As I noted in an earlier blog we haven't had one for a few years. For radio, let's look in our own back yards. For the music industry, look beyond the backyard. Let's open a dialogue about how we can work together to take Country music all across the Country and find the Next Big Thing.