The CMT Awards have been around since 1967 but they haven't always had the name. The award show was originally known as the Music City News Awards and after a couple of name changes and a television channel it had its new name. Music videos for Country Music really exploded in the 90's and since have become a must-have for any country singer in the modern era.
Monday night, the CMT Awards shone a bright light on where Country Music is headed and how it's reuniting with the core of the format. Nobody can argue that Country Music is the only genre of music left where storytelling, song writing and full band accompaniment really exists and there are few places in the world where it's thriving as hard as it is in Texas.
For many in the Houston area, the names of George Strait, Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Maddie & Tae and Parker McCollum are household names because they're either from here or they cut their teeth here. At the CMT Awards this past week they all took home awards and stood in front of the world as the faces to know in Country Music.
Cody Johnson brought home Male Video of The Year for "Til You Can't" and Digital Performance of the Year for "Dear Rodeo" featuring Reba McEntire; George Strait won his first ever CMT Award for Performance of the Year of "Is Anyone Goin' To San Antone" by Charley Pride; Miranda Lambert won Female Video of the Year for "If I Was A Cowboy;" Parker McCollum won Breakthrough Video of the Year for "To Be Loved By You" and Maddie & Tae took home Group/Duo Video of the Year for "Woman You Got."
It was a nearly clean sweep of Texas artist and it points to a truth that Texas and the sound that emerges from the talent born and raised here cuts through and resonates on a much larger scale. The lifelong Texans would say they've known this all along but for many folks this is their first rodeo. Long live Texas and long live Country Music!