The country music industry has seen some of its most famous stars featured in all sorts of media, but is it a good thing?
There's a school of thought that says any publicity is good publicity. If that's the case, than the country music industry has hit the jackpot. Sara Evans and Keith Urban are all over the news and neither of them for their music, and that's the problem.
Will country music be attracting any new fans because they now know who Sara Evans is? Will more people buy Keith Urban's new record because of his recent entrance to rehab? I say no and no.
Country music has a reputation for this kind of behavior - think back to the Willie and Waylon days, or how about David Allen Coe? Heck, the most reverred singer in the genre's history, Hank Williams, died prematurely from a drug dependency.
Personally, I don't think the latest events are helping the industry at all and that will be echoed next week at the CMA Awards if Keith Urban is presented with Entertainer of the Year or Male Vocalist of the Year and isn't there to accept the accolades.
Brad Paisley, George Strait, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Martina McBride - these people have always brought positive vibes to Music City and the importance of people like that have really been emphasized in the last few weeks.
