ACM Special Showcased Country Artists Unplugged
Last night’s “ACM Presents: Our Country” was exactly what we expected. One artist after another performing unplugged, and usually alone.
It was fascinating to hear how they sounded without a lot of production, and it was also cool to see the wide variety of couches, chairs, basements, porches, and truck beds at their various houses, ranches, and home studios.
In Shania Twain’s case, we got to see her barn, where she serenaded her horse and dog.
Keith Urban started it off by thanking the first responders and health care workers, and then he performed “Wasted Time”.
Carrie Underwood sat alone on her couch, slipped a glass of wine, and sang a pitch-perfect version of “Drinking Alone”.
One great pairing featured Brad Paisley doing “Mud On The Tires” and then he connected by computer to Darius Rucker who did “Wagon Wheel”.
Miranda Lambert kept it real in a flannel shirt while sitting on her porch playing “Bluebird”.
Dierks Bentley performed “I Hold On” on his deck in Telluride.
The show ended with a terrific Kenny Rogers tribute. Brad and Darius sang “Lucille” and “The Gambler”, and Luke Bryan did “Coward of the Country”.
And then Lionel Richie gave a heartfelt speech about Kenny before introducing their performance of “Lady” from the 2012 special “ACM Presents: Lionel Richie and Friends – In Concert”.
