Country & Pop Collide

One of my favortie country songs today is a power ballad with Jason Aldean & Kelly Clarkson. "Don't You Wanna Stay" pairs up the country sounds of Aldean & the power voice of Miss Clarkson & makes a perfect combination. Check out their performance on the CMA awards last Fall.



Some behind the scenes of the recording.



I really enjoy pulling up YouTube clips of everyday people doing covers of todays big hits. Here's one I found of "Dont You Wanna Stay"


On the subject of Kelly.  I have a feeling that she is getting her Burleson, Texas toes wet in the country music pond.  After she parted ways with her first manager she partnered up with the co-founder of Nashville based Starstruck Entertainment, Narvel Blackstock.  Here's a look back at Kellys country ties.

 Off the heels of her American Idol win in 2001,  AI aired a special allowing Kelly to sing with one of her biggest idols. It seemed to be an unlikely choice, but this feisty soulful sounding girl chose Reba McEntire. The AI audience is primarily young & maybe not big fans of country music. Having always been a fan of McEntire, I was glad she got her chance to show a whole other generation that country was cool.  The two singers battled it out with one of Reba's Grammy winning hits. 'Does He Love You' which was a great choice as it really features the range in Kelly's voice. Here's a clip from that night.


CMT liked the chemistry enough to pair the two up again several years later on the show Crossroads. A great concept where artists from different genres cover each others songs in a live setting. That opened a whole other avenue as Reba recorded Kelly's "Because of You" for her Duets album project.

Jamming it out on Crossroads to her signature hit Fancy


During that time Kelly was having some trouble in her own career as she was butting heads with many of the record execs & her manager. Not seeing eye to eye with her current manager Kelly turned to the likes of Reba's husband/manager Narvel Blackstock.  This is a guy that knows how things should be done in the music industry. Putting all that into perspective, I think it's just a matter of time before we hear a solo record being played on country radio from Kelly.