Roots, Toots n' Hoots Blog

Crossing over is a good thing

Jeffrey Remz  |  June 28, 2012

The concert season is in full gear here with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw launching a tour together. Brad Paisley's been out and about. Lady Antebellum winds down its Own the Night Tour this weekend with a show Saturday in Milwaukee.

But that will not be the last you have heard from Lady A because on July 10, the trio heads across the Pond for a gig in Dublin and the start of its Ireland/United Kingdom tour.

If you were following Carrie Underwood in recent days, she played the very cool Royal Albert Hall where she paid tribute to Coldplay with a cover of Fix You. As for Paisley, when he concludes his Stateside tour Oct. 20 in Los Angeles, he won't be done either because he's heading over to Sweden and Norway for 4 shows in November.

The list goes on and on. Keith Urban returns home in early '13 to start his world-wide tour in Australia.

It now seems that once a group has gained a bit of a foothold in the U.S. and established a career, they are looking to expand the market.

Smart move in this day and age. Foreign trips were not part of the equation on any major level until the past few years. The fact is, artists should be looking to spread the gospel. It's not only good for their own careers to establish markets for themselves overseas, but it also helps to make country music part of the scene elsewhere.

Some countries, such as Australia have a very longstanding connection to country with homegrown talent there. Chances were, though, when Taylor Swift played Singapore and other Asian markets, they were not part of anyone's itinerary for country. Not sure they are now either, but at least Swift enlightened them with at least form of country being played.

It's a win-win situation for all. Yes, it may be expensive to tour so far away, but presumably the risk is worth the reward. So congrats to Paisley, Lady A, Swift, Alan Jackson, who has been abroad several times, and others for doing so. Let's hope the trend continues.

Country music fans may complain about artists crossing over. In this case, that's not such a bad thing.