Having been on board since her American Idol win, I think it's time to short Carrie Underwood.While I agreed with Simon Cowell's early prediction that Carrie would out sell Kelly Clarkson, I fear now that her lack of humility will cost her market share, much the way Clarkson's did when she spurned Clive Davis.
A friend of mine who lives in Nashville tells me Carrie has a reputation of being "hard to deal with" and her recent comments at the American Music Awards may give credence to it.
If you recall, Slash and Scott Weiland were announced as presenters of the award for Country Artist of the Year. As Slash came out, Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran, who had just finished performing, ran over and shook his hand. Then Slash walked up to the mic, took a drag of his cigarette and said with an air of self-deprecation, "they'll let anybody into this place." He then went on to say that Scott "was country before country was cool," paraphrasing the hit song with a hint of sarcasm before Scott, who looked like a leather clad skeleton, read the nominees.
When Carrie accepted the award, she said something to the effect that "had I known that Scott Weiland and Slash would be presenting this award, I'm not sure how I'd feel about it ... I love country music." After the dig sunk in, Scott gave an incredulous nudge to Slash, who was probably too busy staring at Carrie's legs to give a damn.
Need I remind Carrie that country hasn't always been Faith and Tim and billboards in Oklahoma of Garth Brooks' new babies. There are less degrees of separation than one might think between Slash (who can only be beat by the Devil in the new Guitar Hero) and the prescription drug addiction of Johnny Cash or President Reagan's pardon of Merle Haggard. One need only look at the lines on George Jones' face to know country artists haven't always been clean living, bible thumping debutantes. Carrie should give Lorrie Morgan a call and ask her about her late husband, Keith Whitley, or listen to Willie Nelson play Whiskey River in a bar filled with bikers and pot smoke if she truly loves country music.
While country fans are among the most loyal, I suspect Underwood will lose emerging fans to the likes of Kelly Pickler and her rumored boob-job and newcomer Julianne Hough of Dancing With the Stars fame, who I am bullish on. After all, without songwriters and musicians to back her, Underwood may be another pretty face with big pipes. I fear her lack of humility may have her riding shotgun in Britney's station wagon before she can say "damn y'all." Bright side is Slash will probably be waiting for her at the bar.